The Enigma of Marie Taglioni: The Church of Saint Paulinus, Catterick, England. Presented as part of the Here and Now exhibition series organized by the Henry Moore Institute. 2000. Photo: Roger Scu______
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, detail of Taglioni on a bed of salt. St Paulinus, England, 1999. Photo: Roger Sc____
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, vitrine holding, various drawings and the film casket, electrically monitored by a Joseph Cornell text. St Paulinus, England, 2000. Photo: Roger Sc____
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, 1st performance in the woods of Woldingham, England.1983 . See Films
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, 1st performance in the woods of Woldingham, England.1983 . See Films
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, 1st performance in the woods of Woldingham, England.1983 . See Films
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, detail of the circular lead battery energizing the barograph, monitoring, temperature and humidity at dusk on April 23, 1983. See Films
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, preparatory drawing, ink and pencil 1982.
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, preparatory drawing, ink and pencil 1982.
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni, preparatory drawing, ink and pencil 1982.
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ABOUT THE ENIGMA OF MARIE TAGLIONI (1982 - 2000)
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni was loosely based on an inscription in the lid of Joseph Cornell’s box Taglioni’s Jewel Casket, 1940. The story tells of Taglioni, a nineteenth century ballerina accosted by a Russian highwayman and made to dance on a panther skin spread out over the snow beneath the stars. Obsessed by the spectacle of this amorous encounter, in later life Taglioni formed the ritual of evoking the memory of that fated night by placing a small piece of ice in a jewel casket where, melting among the real gems, the atmosphere of that ice-clad landscape was evocatively recreated.
The Enigma of Marie Taglioni was an attempt to recreate that night by using the actual atmospheric conditions on the centenary of her demise to structure a performance by two machines representing the highwayman and Taglioni herself. The Highwayman, the aggressor made of steel and salt, was reminiscent of a fairground machine used to measuring a man’s strength. His sole purpose was to flick salt tablets in the direction of Taglioni; she, a latent soul, was activated on receiving a tablet. Taglioni’s contribution was to convert this metaphoric salt into pure oxygen by electrolysis of the saline in her stomach, which in turn was used to sustain three oysters. This final action of converting the Highwayman’s salt into oxygen to feed her passion in the form of oysters was the climax of the work. See Transcript of Unrequited Euphoria
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