At the moment I’m preparing a trip to Mexico to finalize my new project Tlazolteotl. Since i have only a few weeks left before i go, the pre-production really is the only thing on my mind right now. Therefor it makes most sense to start my blog posts with a description of what i’m working on right now.

A quote of George Kubler, pretty much describes the essence of my project.

“Everything made now is either a replica or a variant of something made a little time ago and so on back without break to the first morning of human time.”

 Influenced by differences in interpretation, caused by cultural conditioning, ideologies, commerce, tastes or technologies, through time artefacts can significantly morph from their original source. This phenomenon can distort and colour our collective memory and vision of the world in.

Through my project I plan to investigate how, and under the influence of which factors, these distortions and significant shifts in meaning come about in the way we interpret the past, but also how the past presents itself to us.

To do this i researched a case study of an artefact that morphed significantly through time; the original source is a drawing of Tlazolteotl in the Aztec Codex Borbonicus.

The goddess is depicted as she gives birth to a child. Remarkably, her child is born wearing a headdress identical to the one she has on herself. The statues two pairs of hands, of the goddess and her half-born child, are directed both upwards and downwards, this is generally believed to symbolise the cycle of life.

In the opening scene of the movie Indiana Jones – Raiders of the Lost Ark the fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones manages to obtain the ‘Golden Idol’ from a temple hidden deep in the jungles of Peru. The magical film prop was supposedly based on a pre-Columbian scapolite figurine – the Dumbarton Oaks’ Birthing figure – representing the Aztec goddess Tlazolteotl as well.

The golden film prop from Indiana Jones doesn’t resemble the drawing, and yet we talk about the same goddess. Allegedly, the drawing was used to model the aforementioned scapolieten ‘Dumbarton Oaks Birthing figure’. In this museum artefact the symbolism of the two pairs of hands has been lost, the headdress of both mother and child are missing, and there is a very pronounced grimace on the face of the goddess. Research has recently brought to light that particular cutting techniques were used to make this 19th century version of the figurine.

In the case of Spielberg’s Golden Idol, this ‘falsification of history’ is reinforced by a western take; within Aztec culture, any version made from gold would be seen as equal to ‘excrement from the gods’.

Thanks to the film, the Tlazolteotl statue has become immensely popular. In connection with the iconic character the figurine obtained, Chinese mass replicas of the film prop appeared on the market – one of which I bought myself.

This object is the trivial starting point for a research in the form of a chain letter-like enquiry.

I commissioned several craftsmen from several cultural backgrounds on several locations to replicate the sculpture based on a photo that i send. The sculpture is now reproduced in China (plastics), Mexico (ceramics), Italy(marble), Greece(bronze), Uganda(wood) and The Netherlands(3d render/PLA).

With the last sculpture in the chain I’m planning to go to Mexico, to revalue the morphed Tlazolteotl by Nahua people. This should result in a monologue in Nuatl language combined with cinematographic images of the area.

In the image section i will show some work in progress and research material. The final images, video and sculptures will be on show later this year….