01/04/2004 01:19
ANNA DUMITRIU - REINO UNIDO



For along time my work has been concerned with the subject of
immortality, trying to develop an understanding of the scientific background to the
subject from HeLa Cells to genetic engineering and various other forms
of therapy used to prolong life. I have created a large body of work based
on Vitamin C molecules, human cell biology and DNA but I have also become
increasingly interested with literary representations of immortality,
from Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray to Anne Rice and most importantly Bram
Stoker's
vampire creations.

This year I travelled to Romania to visit sites famous to the story of
Dracula, including Sighisoara where Vlad Dracul (Vlad The Devil) lived
and where his son Vlad Tepes (Vlad The Impaler), known as Draculea, was
born. I also visited Bran Castle (known as Dracula's Castle) where Vlad Tepes
was imprisoned and Galati on the Danube where the literary creation Dracula
travelled to when fleeing Van Helsing. The historical truth of 'Dracula' is
far removed from the literary creation and Vlad Tepes is considered a
great historical hero by The Romanian people who find tourist's fascination
with Vampires as frankly hilarious. Nevertheless Transylvania continues to
be a land steeped in superstition and ritual and the architecture and
atmosphere, where men dress as goats and beat drums to ward off evil spirits, is
not unlike that described by Bram Stoker. This is even more impressive when
you realise that Stoker never set foot in Romania.

I am interested in why the idea of the vampire has become such a
cultural
icon and a huge fascination for people and I am interested in it's
representations in popular culture. I used digital technology to remove
all
the kitsch and all the tourists paraphanalia and recreate the
atmosphere of
the old movies I watched as a child.

annadumitriu@hotmail.com
enviada por fundacion gugg und c






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