“Whilst Mediterranean or southern European female deer have no antlers, female Reindeer do. Hercules was tasked with capturing one of the golden antlers of the Ceryneian Hind or the Golden Hind, which was said to live in Hyperborea. Capable of outrunning an arrow in flight, the Golden Hind was known to have antlers like a stag and hooves of bronze. This story may also indicate an awareness by the Greeks of far northern cultures.
While the Aurora Borealis might not exactly be regarded by the scientific community as an event that showcases Valkyrie armour, discoveries made in recent years about the Northern Lights are no less magical. In a 2016 article in the National Geographic, for example, scientist Unto K. Laine proved that auroral sounds were emanating from above the treetops—70 metres above the Earth’s surface—during the times of the most intense light displays from the Aurora Borealis. These sounds were long considered to be imagined tales from folklore, however, he discovered that any pointed surface, like pine leaves and pinecones on the tops of trees, offer the perfect surface for auroral electricity to discharge. de Fouw has an abiding interest in the relationship between aural folklore and science. His visual response to the links between these two worlds is currently under development in his studio. Conceptually however, many of the works in Tales Of Hyperborea explore the tensions and connections between science and myth.
The Golden Hind (2021) for example, is constructed from standard issue pole climbing shoe attachments, which are strangely shaped strap-on shoe attachments, nick-named “Antlers” used by the Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB). Welded together by the artist, they remind us of the myth of the deer sought by Hercules. The idea that appearances can be deceptive is of course a truism, and one that de Fouw clearly delights in constructing – but at the same time his work also subverts or exposes such deceptions, in order to explore where science and myth might become entangled, and, in so doing, what then might constitute a truth.”
From Ciara Healy-Musson’s essay Northern Lights ➜ for the Tales of Hyperborea catalogue.
