Date of the work: 2014 Medium: Plexiglass, wax candles, viewing glasses, battery-operated motor
Exhibition history: BirguFest’14 as part of Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture programme|
Commissioned by the Valletta 2018 Foundation for BirguFest 2014 as part of the programme of activities leading to the eventual European Capital of Culture designation in Malta, the artist produced an interactive performance installation, which was only made available to the public for two days.
The main concept for this work is the cradle. As a noun, this word evokes birth and beginnings, particularly as a metonymy used colloquially to denote a place and time in which something begins. As a verb, it denotes holding something, often precious, gently and carefully. A cradle is also a supportive framework, such as that used in the construction or repair of wooden boats. In this way, Tabone attempts to connect the various meanings of cradle to focus on the ceremonial launching of the traditional type of Maltese wooden boat known as dgħajsa tal-pass. In Birgu, one of the oldest maritime cities in Malta, this resonates strongly with the locals who are able to recall a time when the so-called maiden launching of such boats on dry land would attract the admiration, and sometimes criticism, of people who gathered to see it go into the sea for the first time.
By creating the full-size framework for a dgħajsa tal-pass in transparent plexiglass, Tabone not only performs what is traditionally and exclusively a man’s job, but also emphasizes the fragility of the boat’s framework. Adding a small battery-operated motor to the base, the artist makes the large structure rock gently like either the rocking of a baby’s cradle or the way boats and ships sway from the natural currents whenever they’re moored within a harbour. Moreover, the structure of the art object emulates the skeleton of a fish, especially when it moves, connecting the work further to the sea, where it belongs.
The transparent plexiglass structure throws interesting shadows whenever direct sunlight or electric light shines on it. Tabone adds another layer of light play to Mewweġ by introducing the use of candles along the central spine of the plexiglass boat structure in a performance that has visitors to the installation walk around in a circle, stopping to view the art object through specially crafted refracted spectacles positioned in three different vantage points around the space, which turn the naked flames from the candles into heart-shaped dispersive light prism.
The one remaining candle from the 2014 performance in Birgu was exhibited during the 2022 Trasparenza retrospective exhibition, adjacent to a low-resolution video document, which captures audience members glancing at the work through the refracting glasses, and the artist’s quasi-balletic movements as she lights the candles on the structure, keeping the flames burning without damaging the plexiglass, throughout the performance.
