vibrating animal (2018)

This little adorable piece is called ‘vibrating animal’, made with fur and feathers with a piece of leather from my wallet with a vibrating motor inside. While researching sound, voice and gender in coursework back then, I tested how to mute vibration. The overall shape is meant to look like a weird animal inspired by a poem by Else Lasker-Schüler.

Lovesong (1943)
Else Lasker-Schüler

Come to me in the night – we’ll sleep, twined close, held hard.
I’m all alone, awake, so very tired.
Long before dawn, the song of some strange bird:
With me, and with itself, my dream still sparred.
Flowers are blossoming where waters spring,
Your eyes lend immortelles their colouring…
Come to me in the night, be shod with seven stars,
Be swathed in love, come late into my tent.
Moons climb aloft from heaven’s dusty coffers.
Like two rare beasts we’ll sleep the sleep of lovers
In the high pass behind the firmament.¹

Ein Liebeslied (1943)
Komm zu mir in der Nacht – wir schlafen eng verschlungen.
Müde bin ich sehr, vom Wachen einsam.
Ein fremder Vogel hat in dunkler Frühe schon gesungen,
Als noch mein Traum mit sich und mir gerungen.

Es öffnen Blumen sich vor allen Quellen
und färben sich mit deiner Augen Immortellen …

Komm zu mir in der Nacht auf Siebensternenschuhen
In Liebe eingehüllt spät in mein Zelt.
Es steigen Monde aus verstaubten Himmelstruhen.

Wir wollen wie zwei seltene Tiere liebesruhen
Im hohen Rohre hinter dieser Welt.²

연가 (1943)
엘저 라스키 쉴러

밤에 오시오 – 우리 함께 꼭 붙어 잡시다.
깨어 있으니 외로움에 몹시 피곤하구려.
어두운 새벽 낯선 새 한마리 노래하는데,
꿈은 아직 제 자신과, 또 나와 씨름하고 있었고.

꽃은 당신의 눈 같은 색으로
모든 봄이 오기 전에 피어나는데…

일곱 개의 별로 된 신을 신고 밤에 오시오,
사랑을 내 장막으로 늦도록 둘러쌉시다.
달들이 하늘의 탁한 몸통에서 떠오른다오.

두 마리의 희귀한 동물처럼 조용히 사랑합시다,
이 세상 뒤 키 큰 갈대숲에서.³

1. https://www.timothyades.com/else-lasker-schuler-1869-1945-lovesong/ ↩︎
2. https://www.deutschelyrik.de/ein-liebeslied-1943.html ↩︎
3. 슬픔에게 언어를 주자 – 세계 여성 시인선 (2016), 아티초크./ Let’s give sadness a language – Anthology of the works by world women poets (2016), Artichoke. ↩︎