Isabel Castro Jung
Sarabande Foundation Studios
20-22 Hertford Road
N1 5 SH London
Pectinidae
Performance, sculpture, photography and video.
The work ´Pectinidae´ is a performable sculpture made of over 800 scallops I have collected in Galicia , Spain. It is inspired by my Galician heritage and the pilgrimage Way of St James (Camino de Santiago) which at the same time is a popular Spanish name for the astronomical Milky Way
he scallops loaded with a strong symbolism became a skin/scale like robe similar to an amour. While the body and tale are based on textile ribbons, the head is entirely made of layered and interlinked shells. In a way it is the contrary to the birth of the Venus by Botticelli, hiding, protecting and sheltering the female body.
t The natural material gives the piece a special animal like appearance which plays on the discovery and extinction of species through research and climate change. These concepts are explored through a fake documentary short film. It is one oft the projects were we worked together and the sound track is entirely by Manuel.
I am especially proud of this project, it is poetic, beautiful and mysterious. At the same time it´s a multilayered project in topics, techniques and disciplines ( sculpture, film, performance and photography).
Art video and fake documentary about the discovery of a new species, we call "Pectinidae". The film observes the being's life, between sea and land. “Every day thousands of species disappear and at the same time new ones come to life. This one is discovered 2011 and was put the name Pectinidae due to its shell-like skin. We are still not sure if this never before seen being is closer to the mythical mermaid or the dragon, beings that have been thought would only exist in fairy tales. Very little is known about this one, we only can say that we are lucky to have been able to record this footage of our observations."
