magicass

In Magicass, Anna Gaskell reinterprets Charles Perrault's fairy tale Donkey Skin through the lens of Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment. The Electra complex and incest are now the narrative’s key themes. Placed in the centre of four screens, the viewer is trapped inside the image of the story’s heroine.

Donkey Skin inspired Gaskell to create this hybrid character, whose face is masked by a red hood. The half-woman, half-animal’s odd gait unsettles and transforms the viewer's childhood memories. We are struck by the brutality of human emotions.

Gaskell's installation Magicass, which is in the Pinault Collection, was exhibited for the first time during the 2008 “Passage du temps” (“Passage of Time”) show at the Tri Postal in Lille.