Installation view at A Star House Without a Sun, Museet for Samtidskunst, curated by Lotte Løvholm, Denmark
In the Kurhus Hall, a large inflatable sculpture fills the room. Inside it, a video appears, depicting people wearing colourful masks dancing in an empty swimmin pool. In the space Ettun presents textiles, drawings and an artist book made from cards depicting the mythological creature Lilit. Tamar Ettun presents her ongoin work Lilit the Demon of Empathy (2019-), a multidisciplinary project conjuring the aerial spirit demon, Lilit, whose origins can be traced back to ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, and Judaic mythology in Mesopotamia, present day Iran, and Iraq. Lilit is the mother of all demons. She is a disputed mythological figure: historically, a demon but later also a feminis symbol. From the fourth to the sevent centuries, the myth was depicted by artist-healers creating spells, drawings, and talismanic objects to trap demons on incantation bowls used in protective rituals often related to reproductive health. The new work in the exhibition IVF Documents is a poetic reimagining of how these ancient healing rituals might look today, addressing the somatic, emotional, and physical realities of in vitro fertilisation.
In the context of the former psychiatric hospital, this early practice of healin inner demons has a resemblance to current research in schizophrenia treatmen where a patient’s inner demons take theform of digital avatars for them to interactwith in treatment.
Ettun’s ongoing work, Lilit the Demon of Empathy, began in conversation form, where Ettun took on the persona of Lilit through text messages with the public, interacting with several hundred people that signed up for Lilit’s contact list ever month for five years. The texts created intimate relationships with the readers, who frequently shared their lives and demon with her. Ettun works with somatic empathy in relation to trauma-healing and rituals. Her astrology practice is an extension of her art-making.
