fintan

Fintan is a performative video examining ideas of aural/oral abjection. The work explores the mouth as the site and symbol of consumption and involuntary emission. The violent, uncontrolled aspects of oral emission transgress the tradition of the soothing female, disembodied vocality or what Kaja Silverman calls “the sonorous envelope”

The Irish shamanic tradition is referenced, in particular the oral history of the Fintan narrative. The narrative portrays the intent of a druid who sought to capture the salmon (Fintan). The salmon had been imparted with intense knowledge after having swallowed a hazelnut from the tree of wisdom near the river Boyne. However, when the servant turned the salmon the pit, he burned his thumb and put it in his mouth, resulting in all the wisdom being imparted to him, one who was insignificant within the social strata.

Vancouver, BC
Video In Studios
2004