Here’s the American visual artist Alexandra Grant and her take on the Athenian tragedy ‘Antigone’:
“I was born to love, not to hate”
“I was born to love, not to hate” is a quote from the Athenian tragedy ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles, written over 2,500 years ago.
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So, the play begins when an invading army of Argos has been driven from Thebes. During the fighting, the two sons of Oedipus - Eteocles and Polynices - have died, and it soon turns out that they’ve been fighting for opposing sides. Their uncle, Creon, who is now king of Thebes, decrees that the body of Polynices, who fought against his native city, will not be given burial rites. Instead, he’ll be left to rot as a warning to traitors. Creon further decrees that anyone who does try to bury Polynices will be punished with death.
Antigone sees her brother lying there dead and unburied in the street, and she’s grieving her loss. However, she also firmly declares that the burial traditions are the unwritten laws of the gods and that they are more important than the decrees of one man. And then she vows to give Polynices the proper burial rites.
“It’s a wonderful moment where she stands up to her uncle the king and says: “I was born to love, not to hate”, the artist Alexandra Grant says in a short video presenting her exhibition “Antigone 3000” (see link above).
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Grant explains: “I’ve been working with that quote since 2010 and as the political climate has changed in the United States, the world actually, I think it has become more relevant to other people as well."
“There is", she says, "a need in our time for discussing: How do we get along? How do we connect? How do we love others that are different than ourselves? How do we love ourselves when we’re different than other people?"
Fragment of one of Alexandra Grant's paintings from her exhibition 'Antigone 3000'.
“For me it’s been such an interesting project because I’ve spent four years making this body of work.
I’m a big fan of Bach’s Goldberg Variations and of the idea of taking one theme and repeating it. [>>The Goldberg Variation is a musical composition by Johann Sebastian Bach consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations (Wiki).]
What we wanted to show here in the gallery was what happens when you take the same elements; the rubbing of the text, the paint, the stripes, and you change the colour palette.
You know, if you use hot pink and blue that communicates one message whereas pieces with vibrant purple and maroon and yellow has a completely different message."
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“The myth of Antigone has lasted 2,500 years," Grant notes, "and why has it lasted 2,500 years? Because it keeps becoming important to generation after generation. So I called this body of work “Antigone 3000” as I’m trying to imagine Antigone for the next 1,000 years."
Phenomenal Woman
"Phenomenal Woman". Poem by Maya Angelou - superbly performed by herself.
Thanks for reading!
Until next time - Majken xx
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