The masculine and phallic physical structure of the lighthouse is combined digitally with the typically female and mythical figure of the siren through augmented reality and moving image.

Sirens, in myth, brought sailors to their doom by luring them into shipwrecks at their islands while lighthouses are beacons acting as navigational aid bringing maritime pilots to safety. Both are an invitation, providing direction. It is interesting to note that a ‘siren’, as a famously female figure, is seen as ‘negative’ while the phallic lighthouse as ‘positive’. Requital. subverts and cuts across these clean lines for a work that is more paradoxical than these polarities.

 An ode to unrequited love, Requital. finds a metaphor in the Isle of Portland’s history as a quarry site, for when love is taken but not given, not reciprocated, much like how Portland stone has been taken by man for ages to build elsewhere.

Requital. was exhibited during b-side festival from September 8-11, 2022.

CREDITS

Artist & Performer: Babar Suleman

Crew: Jacob Bowyer