Biomythography
Investigating biomythography as an interdisciplinary visual arts practice.
Juliana Paciulli's work uses photography, video and humor to explore the complexities within popular media and the contradictions inherent American cultural identity. The video, Go Ask Alice, shows a pet snake eating and regurgitating an egg while the made-for-television movie of the cautionary diaristic teen novel, also called Go Ask Alice, about a girl's downward spiral into hallucinogenic drug use is heard, and ultimately seen, in the background. The inherent and constructed contradictions of this pairing create an intense, extended moment where the visceral phenomenon of the snake's actions and the staged reality of the television program intersect. These moments of intersection between the sound track and the snake and egg, both prevalent cultural and psychological symbols, examine and question sensory perception, bodily desire and the complexities within power relationships.