MAN IN EAR: EARWIG

xuan paper, sewing thread, superglue (coating, for waterproof and strength), colour pencils, carved DAS clay, watercolour, ear, animation with photoshop

(The project was to create a cultural artefact based on a folklore or fable)

Man in Ear:
“A truly, truly weird creature introduced in the second story of Liaozhai i.e. the critically acclaimed Qing Dynasty compilation of Chinese supernatural stories.
According to the tale, a scholar diligently practiced a mythical form of qigong, and one day, heard a tiny voice in his ear. The second time it happened, a miniature ogre also crawled its way out. Unfortunately, before the scholar could have a heart-to-heart talk with the creature, a door knock startled the ogre and sent it scuttling away in panic. Thereafter, the scholar was delirious for half a year (in the care of his family).
It is up to the reader to decide whether author Pu Songling intended the creepy story to be a metaphor for schizophrenia.”

Source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/88-Chinese-Legendary-Creatures

"The art of puppetry in China has become an intangible cultural heritage, and there are not many who are willing to learn it anymore, because it’s not considered a paying career.
I took inspiration from it to pay homage to these traditional arts."

"I thought this artefact could be from a quite open culture, who talks about weakness very openly, and this kind of earring can act as Guatemalan worry dolls from and also the reverse of them. (A doll that tells you worries, but this could be used to help you embrace these worries)"

"I tried to contrast Christian cross and the vibrant colours often used in Asian religions to show its universality, with the meditation pose from Chinese cultivating techniques.

Its hands are made to look like lotus flowers, symbolizing purity, peace (calmness) and enlightenment (like the hairstyle it chooses for itself) reaching outward but constrained.

The organs on its clothes were meant to symbolize the dirty water the lotus roots in. I wanted to leave its meaning to the viewers’ associations, but to me it’s mostly about an internal conflict, although I couldn’t decide if it was self-aware."

"The relationship between the red figure (which to me stands for family, who fed the medicine to the scholar) and the ogre is also ambiguous, as it’s keeping it from falling and keeping it in control. (which could be good or bad)"

So I made the earring part 3D and part 2D, to contrast the practicality of the idea of family and the illusion-like nature of, effectively, mental health issues, but I also found it interesting that this story implied how one of its character was somewhat fictitious within its world. I used different media to question its fakeness; their mobility was also considered, what would it mean if the puppeteer cannot move, but the puppet can move limitedly according to its surroundings?
I thought introducing two characters could be a safe way to inspire conversation and discover stories, especially when they are very different."