Dichotomies

                                                                      

from the Greek dichotomia (divided): dich- (form of dícha, in two, asunder); tomia- a combining form meaning cutting, incision, excision of an object.


The Greek mythology of Taurus the bull is basically a story about God Zeus who transformed into a white bull to seduce Europa who was the Phoenician Princess. Europa was said to be the legendary beauty as per the ancient myths. Europa was the daughter of the Phoenician King known as “Agenor”. God Zeus couldn’t resist the stunning beauty of Europa and extremely fell in love with her. He first tried to approach her directly by expressing his feelings and love for her. But this didn’t impress Europa and so she denied his proposal. So God Zeus was completely turned down and unhappy about the failure. So he decided to transform himself into a white bull with golden horns so that he could impress Europa in either way.

The Greek mythology of Taurus the bull further narrates that Europa went to fields with her friends to pluck beautiful flowers. When plucking the flowers, the God Zeus appeared in front of her in the form of a white bull and started charming at her. She became so amazed and stunned that she couldn’t resist and this made her so crazy that she went and sat on the bull. This made the Taurus the bull so happy and crazy that he immediately rode her to the island of Crete by swimming across the ocean. After reaching the island of Crete he revealed himself in his actual image. He then started presenting plenty of stunning magical gifts such as necklace that was made by the famous “Smith Hephaestus”, talos which was a giant man made of bronze to protect the island Crete, laelaps that was a master in hunting and a javelin that never missed its target. She was so impressed and daunted by his gifts that she fell in love with him. They then decided to get married to each other and hence Europa who as a princess before, now became the first queen of Crete. The Greek mythology of Taurus the bull also says that Europa finally gave birth to three sons named as Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpendon. Minos was said to be the future king of Crete, Rhadamanthys became one of the three judges of the dead and Sarpendon was said to found the Greek city of Miletus in Asia Minor.

The Greek mythology of Taurus the bull also narrates that in the olden Greece, the bulls were treated as a sacred to Poseidon, who was a Greek God of Oceans and Storms. The bulls were also sacred to Dionysus who was a Greek God of Male Fertility. There are also other Greek myths related to Taurus the bull. Another Greek Myth says that Taurus represents the white bull that ranked the well-known Minotaur, whose mother was said to be the wife of King Minos of Crete. The bull was presented to the King Minos as a sign to their successor to the throne. The Greek mythology of Taurus the bull also describes Taurus the bull of a powerful pair of brazen-hooves bulls that could even breathe fire and thus appeared to be immortal.

The Concept:

As the ages turn into timeless moments i chose this costume,this musk to capture the mobility of time. Just like Zeus transformed into a white bull to seduce Europa i transformed into a male/female creature to seduce my audience. 

Video extract from the rehearsal

Institue of Contemporary Arts, London
December 2009


Concept-Performance: Maria Konstantines Araka


Video Courtesy :the artist