Thank you to everyone who came to the opening night of The Grimm Needle!
Wynvlieg, 2016 Found object, textile, cotton thread and rubber 21 x 29 x 7 cm
I had such a blast and hope to publish some pictures of the evening soon.
but before you bat an eyelid,
Don’t bat an eyelid 2016 Cotton thread, vintage photograph and rubber 27 x 22 cm
I would to talk a little bit about the work below.
Vlerrie het muisneste 2016 Cotton thread, vintage photograph and rubber 58 x 42 cm
My primary school teacher used to tell me that my head is full of ‘muisneste’- ‘directly translated it means mouse-nests, but the meaning of the word to me gets lost in direct-translation.
I suppose she was referring to my day-dreaming.
Nostalgia is a vampire, 2016 Cotton thread, vintage photograph and rubber 45 cm diameter (framed)
talking about day-dreaming….the bat represent dreams to me…I’m not sure what it represents to other people/cultures, but in real life they are amazing creatures too…
“There is nothing more startling than the operation of the vampire. It performs its surgery at dead of night in a darkened room, and, while drawing its meal, supports itself in the air by the beating of its wings. We marvel at the kestrel as she hangs with rapidly moving wings in the air,…this winged mammal, stealthily sucking blood while poised like a living helicopter, displays a proficiency not excelled by any creature”. (encyclopedia)
Die suigeling, 2016 Cotton thread, vintage photograph and rubber 45 cm diameter (framed)
“Bats are devoted mothers, and carry their young with them, clinging to their fur, but the naked bat, having no fur for baby bats to cling to, has evolved a living cradle; a deep fleshy pouch on the underside of the body in which the thriving infant is carried. With that in mind, and the further strange fact that some bats have added sucker discs, like the implements of the octopus, to their thumbs and feet, so enabling them to climb the smoothest surfaces, we must bid adieu to the wing handed folk, one of the most fantastic of all Natures’s experiments.” (encyclopedia)
Goodnight and sweet dreams xxx
hannalie taute 
“Wynvlieg” is my favourite! It reminds me of a Raphael angel version of Bacchus. 🙂
Thank you Sune! I like the idea/reference you make… 😉 Interesting thought x
Scary but one’s qualms are appeased by the use of idioms and the research behind the work. I grew up with ‘muisneste’ meaning one has nothing but boys on the mind, but since you were in primary school your teacher may have had another connotation. Primary school is a long time ago for me, but don’t I remember thinking of boys a lot? Wrote the name of my ‘boyfriend’ on my ruler and he came and broke it – and my heart!
Buddhist monks were/are referred to as bats.
I am also not sure about the teachers connotation but
Like you I also didn’t think of boys in primary school. I used to have major skin problems from a VERY early age and were teased about it a lot in primary school…. So sad to hear about the ruler and your heart, but hopefully it has healed since then.
I love the reference of Buddhist monks as bats. Thank you for that. x
The translation of Basho’s haiku by Lucien Stryk gave the explanation in the end notes:
Come out, bat –
birds, earth itself
hauled off by flowers
Hoendervleis-mooi…Thanks for sharing Petru!