“How might we transform to thrive in the poisonous realm of the present, seeking healing in the monstrous?“

Harpy is an expanded performance by multi-disciplinary artist Eden Dodd, curated by 16 Collective, taking place on 24th October at 8 pm at 5 Florence Street.  

Eden Dodd takes the mythological creature of the Harpy, as both a winged woman and monstrous female-bird hybrid, to narrate a story of transition and healing in the toxic sludge of the present.

The figure of the Harpy first appears in Greek mythology as ‘fair, locked and winged maidens,’ with portrayals often showing vicious creatures of wrath and ravenous hunger, embodying speed and wind. They are often depicted as simple creatures driven by animal instinct, or subservient under the control of male deities – doing their bidding. Although vicious, they are intelligent and capable of human speech, and were once considered the same as sirens, wielding hypnotic songs as a tool of power. 

The work uses these mythological narrative frameworks to question the conditions and power relations necessary for dehumanisation/humanisation, in a contemporary character study split between two personae: Harpy and her Perceiver. The performance takes viewers through a dual transition; “she” conversing with a ghost or a memory, “he” with a dream or a premonition.  

Dodd’s sculptural set environment will bring the harpy to life in an abandoned post-industrialscape, blending influences from a flooded and abandoned vacant Coke works in the artist’s hometown in Wales, to sacred geometry in spaces of ritual and sanctuary. Living in a faraway nest, a protective deterrent for predators (humans) and persecution, the harpy inhabits a corrupted, sacred reflecting pool.

Access information

Ground floor (atrium), 5 Florence Street, Gorbals, Glasgow G5 0YX
Doors open at 7.30 pm.
Performance starts at 8.00 pm
General Venue Access Guide

• Performance will be captioned
• Step and ramped access and manual doors
• Free parking for Blue Badge holders
• Accessible parking bays
• Accessible lift
• Accessible toilets
• Seating is available
• Assistance dogs
• Wheelchair space available
• For more information please reach out to info@16collective.org

Credits

Original work by Eden Dodd

Produced by 16 Collective

Generously supported by Creative Scotland

Team Credits:

• Costume design by Sam Wood
• Still Photography by Jock Thomson
• Make-up Art by MV Brown
• Videography by Jacob Ceris Gandy 
• Graphic Design by Mitchell F Gillies 
• Stylist: Colette Dyrburgh
• Dramaturgy Mentorship by Ivor MacAskill
• Playwriting Mentorship by James Ley

Image credits: Jock Thomson – photography | Mitchell F Gillies – graphic design