From the Bones of the Fish

The fairy tale form is deeply entrenched in our collective psyche and exists across the globe, making it one of the most powerful image distribution systems in existence today. As a means of defining “Beauty” and the myth of its social necessity, fairy tales function on a number of different levels of which representations of race, in conjunction with gender and sexuality, are particularly problematic. Stereotypical images of impossible and specifically circumscribed physical standards are coupled with behavioral dictates which serve to reinforce dominant-culture constructs.

From the Bones of the Fish, a reference to “Ye Xian” (the first recorded version of a “Cinderella” tale – in which bones of a fish perform the role of the magical agent), interrogates these cultural constructs and their lasting effects through a series of works. Through the use of fairytales in marketing, capitalist interests have created a cycle of consumerism, resulting in prescribed behaviors, social systems, hierarchies and ultimately both psychological and ecological pollution.  The first acknowledged use of the fairy tale as social, behavior-modeling implement was established by the brothers Grimm through the translations of tales from their oral to textual forms, shifting power to an elite, literate, dominant-culture population and away from a communal, social, fluid experience. The works in this exhibition position these issues at their center, consider the enduring power of the fairy tale form, and highlight alternative possibilities as well as engage the visitor physically as well as visually and conceptually with questions about privileging text over oral tradition, agency and authorship, consumer behavior and the enduring hold the fairy tale form has on culture from an intersectional, global perspective.