Spin

In Wren’s work, Spin, a video of 6 spools of thread is presented.  The first spool unravels quickly for 10 seconds and then the second begins and then the third until all the spools, like whirling dancers, do their colourful dance. Once all six spools are unraveling, the last runs out of thread.  They stop and then the sequence begins again.

In Greek Mythology, Ariadne gives Theseus a thread to unravel as he travels through the labyrinth to kill the Minotaur.  Theseus managed to kill the monster and save the Athenians, and with Ariadne’s thread he managed to retrace his way out and return home to Athens. Yemen-born, Canadian, Kamal Al-Solaylee writes of the phenomena of where we call home and why we want to leave and then return again.  A place of belonging is essential and immigrants often leave looking for places of peace and promise, yet with a pull to return.   The journey is rarely unidirectional.

The organized chaos of leaving home, and then coming home and leaving again is constantly unraveling  life’s possibilities and  losses. The re-spooling, bringing back what was once there, is hopeful.  However, the thread quickly unravels again.  The nostalgia of home is found; it is never the place you left.