So, I submitted the proposal, and my tutor and i had a discussion about it – he was concerned that the three ideas would swamp one another. So, we discussed each idea in more detail and came up with the following conclusions:

The video could be more effective displayed separately,  still in the same room but perhaps projected onto a vaseline covered screen.

The curtains are the weakest point of the idea

The cracked arms would be better presented in such a way as to be able to walk around them and observe them from all angles, as the statues were intended to be seen, and the curtain could become part of the drapery if i want to keep it.

So, over the next fortnight i’m going to film the moisturising sequence and work on the curtain. However, if the curtain is to form part of the drapery around the venus then i could do with knowing what it is…

The Chiton:

Widely regarded as the greek toga, the chiton is the most likely item to be draped as works of this nature often depicted Aphrodite taking the ritual bath to restore her purity – this is a rectangle of cloth fastened at the shoulders and tied at the waist like so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton_(costume)

This newspaper cutting on mlahanas.de/Greeks/Art/Aphrodite2.htm proved particularly interesting in respect of the possible positioning of the arms:

 http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/Aphrodite2.htm

 

The Loctite Superglue people thought this was more likely:

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/loctite_venus_de_milo

So, as it works better with what i plan to do I’m going to base the plaster arms on the glue commercial, and after considering fabrics I’m intending to use gold toned chiffon with red and gold E beads. I’m still planning to use my rash pattern, and have sketched it and transferred it to a pattern. I’m also planning to sign it in an appropriate manner – the purported missing pedestal fragment translated as “(Alex)andros son of Menides, citizen of Antioch on the Meander made this (statue)”. So, my version would be “Vicky, daughter of Michael, citizen of Walsall, made this”, which translates  (roughly) into greek as….:

Η Βίκυ, κόρη Michael, πολίτης Walsall έκανε αυτό

so i’m going to embroider both the English and Greek versions on the fabric, probably right at the edges.

And finally – I was considering the root of the word eczema, and it stems from the Greek ‘to boil’. This seemed particularly apt given Aphrodite’s birth from the sea, and I recalled a reference in an old horror film to Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ as ‘The witch who came from the sea’. Sea water is frequently used to treat dermatitis, and right now all these little things seem to be clicking into place. So the working title for this section of the project is now ‘The Witch from the Boiling Sea’. fairly striking.

Opinions etc. gladly and joyously received as ever ;-D

Vix