Inspired by “Star Trek”, especially “The Next Generation” and “Picard 3” or the Klingon Worf, son of Mogh, who fights with bat’leth, a Klingon weapon. Later he uses this weapon (“Picard 3”) similar to Tai Chi or Qi Gong for martial arts and meditation, but also for defense.
I created my own bat’leth by using old, rusty scissors, scissor parts and rusty saws that were supposed to be thrown away. But I wanted to utilize art to reduce waste. I glued everything together and covered it with acrylic paint.
Some of my students had seen “The Walking Dead” during this time and were traumatized by the violence and cruelty – not of the zombies – but of the people. Fortunately, they trusted me and addressed their thoughts and nightmares. To understand their feelings, I watched the series and understood what was going on in their minds, but I was also surprised that some of the younger students were allowed to watch the series.
Finally I developed a seminar with school themes, but also with the theme “TWD”.
The bat’leth thereby created the connection between the series “TWD” and “TNG”. Because one of the protatgonists in “TWD”, Daryl Dixon, drives around with an old motorcycle and a crossbow, and he uses the crossbow for defense. I hung my bat’leth on a coat rack which is an old, rusted motorcycle, so not only was there learning that was school related, but there was space to playfully address things that affected the participants in a relaxed atmosphere.
2023, Rusted metal parts, scissors, saws, acrylic paint, armor tape and Pattex Montage Classic,
109 x 25 cm
