Vacuum

This collaborative project sees the set of character relationships, the Little Mermaid and the Witch, as female escapees and guides in a patriarchal society, inspired by the original story and recent adaptations.

“She thought of the coming night of her death, of all that she had lost in the world.” Does the Little Mermaid realize that the soul she seeks belongs to the voices and words constructed by patriarchal discipline? On the night before her/its death, the little mermaid may have sensed that the undersea witch had made the same attempt - persuring the soul of a human male - and failed. They share similar dilemmas between man/woman, human/non-human, land/sea, and even patriarchy/matriarchy.

We see the relationship between the mermaid and the witch as female escapists and guides in a patriarchal society, and have been inspired to produce this photobook presenting the perspectives of the two female characters: the little beauty is caught up in spiritual disillusionment and physical violence, while the witch puts her hope for regeneration in the younger generation. The project is both highly personal and emotional, and openly relational, with the pain experienced by individual women bringing about regenerative transformation through the mutual support of groups of women.

The perspective on the left focuses on the physical pain and mental disillusionment of the Little Mermaid; on the right, it's more of a bystander's perspective of the witch. We have also adapted it ourselves: the knife that the sisters exchange with her has been replaced by a torch that is passed from woman to woman. The content is organized in four main chapters: mouths, feet, faces, and hand-held objects; and the moon phase diagrams are used as page numbers in the book. In this symphony of silence, female and queer bodies, the sea and the moon intertwine and perpetuate each other.