Shirley Yanover 2007
Pendle Witches
At the Lancaster Tavern / Strip Club
My Photographic installation for the Lancaster Tavern makes reference to the light of the moon
for
Nuit Blanche, waxing and waning. Each of us sees, feels and thinks something different
when
moongazing, …to that end I have imprinted one word on each image which contains
the word ‘moon’.
The moon images make reference to our culturally induced conceptions that are projected
onto what we
experience through language. On a personal level, we project our emotions
and thoughts onto the moon.
On a societal / cultural level, the moon generates beliefs
and superstitions which are related to the
fear of the dark, fears evidenced in folklore,
religious ritual, and at the other extreme, …the
fear of witches riding on broomsticks
across a moonlit night sky.
My research revealed that Lancaster England was the site of the most famous witch
trial
in the history of England, in 1612. I found it compelling that the Lancaster Tavern of
the
same name, four centuries later, as the site of a strip club, evidences some of the same
societal
prejudices and taboos re woman’s bodies, sexuality, and power, that led to
the Lancaster executions
of 12 women and men in 1612.
To that end I printed the names of the 12 witches on the images of the moon,
one on each, in a font that
is handwritten script, …signifying the personal and individual.
THE WITCHES: Jane Bulcock, John Bulcock, Alizon Device, Elizabeth Device,
James Device,
Katherine Hewitt, Alice Nutter, Anne Redfern, Isobel Robey, and Anne Whittle, Jennet Preston,
and Elizabeth Southerns.
THE MOONS: The front of the building: moonshine, moondance, moonbeam, moonstruck,
moonlight, moonlit, moonlighting, moonwalk, mooning, and moonglow.
The side of the building: honeymoon, and bluemoon.
THE IMAGES:
Image # 1 - 3: installation view of the front of the building
Image # 4: installation view of the side of the building
Images # 5 – 16:
The successive 12 images are images of the moon waxing and waning,
each 24 x 30 inches. Media: Sintra
plastic
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