Ein klein nachtmusik
Dorothea Tanning
Streamside Day Follies
Pierre Huyghe
Although set in the Spanish civil war the dynamics between the family rather than the political bodies were most striking to me. Violence and madness can occur in any family the only solace children stuck in the middle of all this can find is within their imaginations. Their salvation comes from realising the behaviours modelled by their superiors is wrong and that obedience whilst placatory in the short term, is not a for filling long term strategy.
The universality of these themes beyond a specific historical context is due to the links between Pan's labyrynth and the original fantasy of "the enigma of the origin of the self" which is "solved" by the fantasy of family romance or return to origins. As a child the most important markers of our origin are our parents and our homes. In Ofelia's case the civil war has taken both her father and her home away from her. Her mother in marrying the captain has also distanced herself from her daughter. To comfort herself Ofelia seeks out a fantasy world through which she can return to her origins as the long lost princess of a magical King and Queen.
To for fill her personal quest, Ofelia must undertake three tasks which conflict with the behaviour and obedience expected of her. In choosing to go against the dominant social contract, her body becomes politicised highlighting the link between self identity and power. Through her body and intuition not thought and reason she opposes the powerful fascist regime.
If aesthetics is a discourse of the body then the body of Ofelia represents the aesthetics of choice and freedom. It is innocent yet powerful. Tied to the body rather than time or place it occurs in the fantastical setting where the conscious and unconscious meet.
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