Undead Artefacts ︎
Undead Artefacts ︎
(2022)
Undead artefacts combines the symbolism of the current invasion of Ukraine with symbolism from vampire fiction.
This is part of a larger ongoing project inspecting how the negative perception of the East from the West transcends reality and fiction.
These objects are vessels of fiction, and represent a captured moment in our current reality by contextualising it within the ongoing
turnover of vampire fiction. This object series conforms with the popular tropes of stakes, crucifixes and garlic whilst highlighting the
xenophobia at the core of the trope. I am comparing the symbolism within these tropes with the symbolism being used in the current war
and repositioning vampire fiction into current events.
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Photos from “Where Are The Margins?” exhibition 2022
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The czech anti-tank hedgehog is a symbol widely used in protest of the invasion.
I made it using anti-vampire stakes.
The stake was originally in vampire fiction as it would physically pin the vampire to the ground when killing them, physically stopping them so they couldn’t get away.
Made of natural foraged dark wood, carved and attached with copper wire.
The czech anti-tank hedgehog is a symbol widely used in protest of the invasion.
I made it using anti-vampire stakes.
The stake was originally in vampire fiction as it would physically pin the vampire to the ground when killing them, physically stopping them so they couldn’t get away.
Made of natural foraged dark wood, carved and attached with copper wire.
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The aluminium cross is representative of the crucifix that would disarm vampires.
I chose to cast it in solid aluminium to represent the sanctions on Russia, one of the major aluminium producers. The material war is disarming.
The cross is solid alumnium, and charred, artifically aged.
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The tank that shoots garlic. The tank functions almost primarily as a symbol used by the Russian army as opposed to being a functional, useful weapon. The tanks used so far in the invasion have been reported to be malfunctioning.
The garlic bullets of the tank would burn a vampire white hot, and injure both the individual loading the bullets and the victim it is being aimed at.
The scale of both the tank and the anti-tank hedgehog is important- these contextually heavy objects have been reduced down to a toy size. The body of this tank was made in a factory in Ukraine that made both real tanks, and toy tanks.
The tank came broken, sourced from a seller who claims they bought it in 1980s in Ukraine, from a factory that made both real tanks and toy tanks. The tank is heavy steel, and repared by me.
The garlic bullets are made from a combination of jesmonite and dried hand-powdered raw garlic. The process of creating these unveiled that jesmonite and garlic disable each other.
Video of the tank shooting in action.