multi-media installation
Video/Sculpture/Performance. 3 channel installation runtime: 14:30

After the Bough Breaks investigates the construction of masculine identity and the assertion of male practices through ritual. In response to social comprehensions of ‘maleness’ and a feminist inspired debate for gender equality, the contemporary male figure must discern their identity from the disconnect between the male they are, and the male they think they ought to be. Through this re-evaluation of our traditional masculine models, a new approach to the construction of masculine identities has been adopted. By combining symbolic male and female practices with mythological narratives, After the Bough Breaks is a celebration of the new male sensitivity through the reassertion of male ritual activities. Relating the erection of the Dionysian Temple in Greece to the historically symbolic beginning of our archaic masculine ‘values’, After the Bough Breaks retells the story of Dionysius’ salvation at sea and resurrects a new phallic symbol that challenges established notions of masculinity. Celebrating the fallibility of our past ideals, the protagonist exhibits a range of traditionally male and female techniques in order to construct and deliver a new tower representing the fusion of our salvation for ‘maleness’ and our adoption of a new identity.