To Dream

Object Details

Christine Dixie, born 1966, South Africa

Label Text

Loosely based on the Biblical narrative of the near sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham, Christine Dixie's installation "The Binding" centers around the intrinsic role sacrifice plays in shaping the male identity, and its link to the subterranean role of the mother as witness to the father-son relationship. Isaac's story, also known as "the binding" or "aqedah" refers to the ancient practice of binding a human sacrifice before placing it on the altar. In the story, the child symbolically dies and is then reborn through the hand of the father--visible evidence of fatherhood which, unlike motherhood, is biologically invisible.

Dixie photographed her son, six at the time, to serve as the reference for the six prints and sculptural elements that make up the installation. To Dixie, six is an important age--a transitional age where one hovers betwixt the worlds of the mother and the father. The print components combine etching and collagraph and are deliberately created to scale, encouraging a more intimate relationship between the child and the viewer. Here, Dixie's intent is a dreamlike illogicality, where the collagraph forms a blind-embossing from an actual sheepskin or blanket, and the etching forms the main image, cut from a copper plate and thereby creating an embossed edge that is sympathetic to the blind-embossing. The three-dimensional illusion mirrors the real and the unreal world of the young boy.

This etching, "To Dream," is the sixth and last in the series and depicts a sleeping boy, his body partially covered by a woven blanket--the warmth and comfort of the mother. Along with the first print, "To Sleep," it frames the narrative of the other four "in-between" prints which chronicle the boy's dream of near-sacrifice.

In the installation, the prints are to be hung along one wall, invoking a hospital, dormitory or army barracks, with a bed--which can also read as an altar or operating table--below each. An altar cloth is hung over each depicting a mirror image, or shadow of the sleeping child. This embodied shadow is composed of mass manufactured toy soldiers that often lost limbs during the artist's process, a metahpor for the real violence of war. This reflexive tableau between the sculptural and the narrative print series combines the contemporary symbolism of the regimented patriarchal world to which a mother sacrifices her son.

Description

This etching, "To Dream," is the sixth print in the installation "The Binding," and is a required element for the complete installation. The etching features a young sleeping boy lying on his stomach on a white background with a white blanket covering his lower half. His proper left arm is bent at the elbow and his right arm stretches out at an angle beside him. "The Binding" is a mixed media installation consisting of multiple parts, including 6 sculptures, 6 altars with veils & lamps, 6 etchings (documented as individual objects 2011-6-5 to 2011-6-10) and 2 digital prints (documented as individual objects 2011-6-12 and 2011-6-13).

The etching features a young sleeping boy lying on his stomach on a white background with a white blanket covering his lower half. His proper left arm is bent at the elbow and his right arm stretches out at an angle beside him. "The Binding" is a mixed media installation consisting of multiple parts, including 6 sculptures, 6 altars with veils & lamps, 6 etchings (documented as individual objects 2011-6-5 to 2011-6-10) and 2 digital prints (documented as individual objects 2011-6-12 and 2011-6-13).

"The Binding" is a mixed media installation consisting of multiple parts, including 6 sculptures, 6 altars with veils & lamps, 6 etchings (documented as individual objects 2011-6-5 to 2011-6-10) and 2 digital prints (documented as individual objects 2011-6-12 and 2011-6-13).

Exhibition History

The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists, Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art, October 16, 2014-January 25, 2015; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., April 8-November 1, 2015

The Binding, Christine Dixie, Gallery AOP, Johannesburg, South Africa, May 8-29, 2010

Published References

Buys, Anthea. 2010. "'The Binding': Christine Dixie at Gallery AOP." Exhibition review. http://www.artthrob.co.za/

Dixie, Christine. 2010. The Binding. Exhibition brochure. Johannesburg: Gallery AOP.

Njami, Simon and Susanne Gaensheimer. 2014. Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists. Frankfurt am Main: Museum fur Moderne Kunst; Washington, D.C.: National Museum of Africa Art, Smithsonian Institution; Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, p. 138.

Roodt, M.C. 2010. "Bound to the sacrificial altar." Exhibition review. http://www.artlink.co.za/

Content Statement

As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.

Image Requests

High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the Annie Laurie Aitken Endowment

2009-2010

Object number

2011-6-9

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

(c) 2009-2010 Christine Dixie

Type

Print

Medium

Etching on paper

Dimensions

Framed: 217.5 x 145.3 x 7.1 cm (85 5/8 x 57 3/16 x 2 13/16 in.)

Geography

South Africa

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Topic

male

Record ID

nmafa_2011-6-9

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7599b9f4a-88fd-4271-b554-b4737723601b