After having written her memoir about the puppet Tchantchès, she had found a new interest for this very varied medium. A medium that opens the door to both enter- tainment, politics and education, brought together through cultural mediation. Wanting to invert the existing dichotomy between the puppet and puppeteer she started to explore how to make the puppet master over the puppeteer’s movements.
At the start of her work process she explored how to give an inanimate object a character and how to transpose this upon the human interacting with it or wearing it. By using her vivid dreams and introspection as a design methodology to produce drawings and later create shapes and characteristics for each puppet.
A contemporary interpretation of the story “The Shadow” by Hans Christian Anderson through the exploration and activation of wearable puppets, that both exist as a shadow and a design object.
Having investigated different kinds of puppet manipulation, she felt much more attracted to the ones where the physical connection between the puppet and pup- peteer was the greatest. In other words, wearable
puppets. After exploring different techniques and materials like paper, cardboard and foam, fabric became the medium of choice.
A shadow is the perfect symbolic subject for my puppetry performance, since he can not exist without his master and is controlled by it. Having found a strong link between sha- dows and puppets permitted her to ex- plore the duality of each puppet. Inspired by the analysis of Ursula le Guin and Carl Jung’s theory about what a shadow re- presents, she was able to distill 5 main characters out of the many, by society,
deemed undesirable traits.
Using different techniques, Ellen created 5 puppets. Rage, Fear, Desire, Creativity and Prejudice, each of them manifest a range of specific characteristics that allow for a variety of activation methods. Every one of these charac- ters is designed to emit a certain feeling, linked to their symbolism while they are being brought to life. This serves as a tool for empowerment and exploration of your own shadow.
These puppets are a testimony of self exploration and self acceptance. It is an attempt at the sensibilisation of “the shadow” and what this entails, through a journey of acceptance rather than rejection and denial.
He is never in a good mood and growls at everyone. It’s rage, teeth sharp as nails, nails sharp as claws and claws as sharp as teeth.
He doesn’t like boxes and is very imaginative. It’s creativity, with its many colors and textures. But be careful not to get carried away by him.
She always wants more and is very elegant. It’s desire. Riches, love, power.. she wants it all. Resembling a mythical bird with its proud stance and feathers.
He doesn’t like surprises and screams instead of talking. It’s fear. Demonstration of all four of the responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze & Fawn.
She feels better than everyone else, and let’s hope that you aren’t. It’s prejudice. With her sharp tongs and judgy eyes, she deems no one worthy enough of her company.
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