Seeded Love
_edited.jpg "Seeded Love")
Our group's mission is to create art that celebrates the beauty of loving and warm lesbian relationships using seeded fruits like oranges and pomegranates. Our idea was inspired by the fact that most of us in the group are lesbians, and we want to convey to the world that there is a community where women are respected and loved. We want to show that we can be loving and nurturing, just as the lesbian manifesto by CURE (n.d) states, "take over spaces and make them secure for us." As a group, we aim to provide our audience with an insight into our community through the motif of peeled fruits that represent a range of emotions, such as the pomegranate theory or the orange peel theory. We chose the pomegranate to represent themes of sensuality and femininity because “in ancient Greece, it was associated with the goddess Aphrodite (Venus for the Romans) who represented beauty, sensuality, and fertility”(Middlesex Freemasonry , 2021). The orange was also a deliberate choice because of its “warm hues and round shape” (comlab, 2017)that make it look sultry, suggesting love and femininity. As a group, we hope to deliver an experience that highlights the love of women from a woman's perspective. The metaphorical cannibalistic love is symbolized by the act of devouring a seeded fruit, which represents a deep form of love where one physically embraces and consumes the other person entirely.
Our project originated from our own ideas, but we were also inspired by other forms of media that depicted queer relationships through metaphors. During our research, we came across a variety of media that used fruit, particularly the pomegranate and oranges, as symbols.
The pomegranate is a fruit that holds great significance in history and is often associated with femininity, fertility, and sexual awakening. In literature, the pomegranate is often used as a symbol of love. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare writes, "I'll give thee a thousand kisses, then a hundred and fifty, and a hundred and fifty more, until thou hast counted up the number of the pomegranate seeds." (Kennedy, 1977) The pomegranate seeds represent a never-ending measure of love between two individuals. The depiction of a pomegranate was a sacred symbol to the Greeks, closely related to the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation, Aphrodite as it was the fruit she planted in Kypros. In Greek literature, some versions of the myth of Persephone depicted her eating pomegranate seeds that led to her being bound to Hades, who had an abundance of the jewel-like seeds in his underworld. They represented life that would rise only to fall through the cycle of life and death. The myth of Hades and Persephone was erotic in ways, with Hades' intentions being obsessive but having the undertone of love. The pomegranate is a feminine symbol of love and desire, represented by its heart-shaped seeds. However, pomegranates can also be associated with darkness.
Our project originated from our own ideas, but we were also inspired by other forms of media that depicted queer relationships through metaphors. During our research, we came across a variety of media that used fruit, particularly the pomegranate and oranges, as symbols.
The pomegranate is a fruit that holds great significance in history and is often associated with femininity, fertility, and sexual awakening. In literature, the pomegranate is often used as a symbol of love. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare writes, "I'll give thee a thousand kisses, then a hundred and fifty, and a hundred and fifty more, until thou hast counted up the number of the pomegranate seeds."(Santaniello, 2023) The pomegranate seeds represent a never-ending measure of love between two individuals. The depiction of a pomegranate was a sacred symbol to the Greeks, closely related to the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation, Aphrodite as it was the fruit she planted in Kypros. In Greek literature, some versions of the myth of Persephone depicted her eating pomegranate seeds that led to her being bound to Hades, who had an abundance of the jewel-like seeds in his underworld. They represented life that would rise only to fall through the cycle of life and death. The myth of Hades and Persephone was erotic in ways, with Hades' intentions being obsessive but having the undertone of love. The pomegranate is a feminine symbol of love and desire, represented by its heart-shaped seeds. However, pomegranates can also be associated with darkness.
The "Pomegranate Theory" was a major inspiration for our project, which led to the title "Seeded Love." This theory is based on the idea that the way a pomegranate is opened can represent the difference between a gentle and loving relationship versus a destructive and violent one. In other words, you would rather be opened up in a gentle and loving way, like peeling back the layers of a pomegranate, rather than being ripped apart with rage.
Our idea is to approach love in a more feminine and gentle way, where the layers are slowly peeled back to reveal the beauty underneath. This represents the idea that the journey of love is just as important as the destination. We would rather be gently loved and savored, rather than being ripped apart and devoured like an animal. We want to be consumed slowly and with care. One quote that we found particularly inspiring was, "tear me to pieces, devour me, but please do it gently, consume me completely, but only after you have been patient with me, let me stain your lips as you pray I was worth the effort, I promise my flesh is sweet.."(Elize,2023). This quote speaks to the idea of deep, passionate love that is both gentle and patient, the act of opening a pomegranate is seen as feminine and delicate, using a gentle touch to carefully peel back the layers. Using this we are representing women loving women through this gentle and loving approach.
On the other hand, the more violent and destructive method of opening a pomegranate is seen as masculine and lacking in emotion, you have no regard for its skin and flesh and you tear it apart spilling the seeds and staining your hands red, leaving the juices to flow from your mouth as you rip it apart with your teeth. This method takes away the love and personality of the 1st method, it's damaging, and unloving and ruins the ‘fruit’ or real person, stripping away from the love and personality of the first method and is damaging and unloving.
Although each method has the result of devouring the pomegranate it's more the journey and the outcome, either a pristinely kept skin formed from a gentle hand or a ripped, messy skin tossed aside from ripping its flesh apart. our art, we focused on the first method, which emphasizes the femininity and delicate touch of love. We believe that love should be approached with care and tenderness, just like opening a pomegranate with a gentle hand.
When you observe a pomegranate, you can see how it resembles humans. It has a peelable skin, and inside, it has flesh filled with seeds that resemble hearts. Therefore, it is not far-fetched to associate the pomegranate with cannibalism. This concept is intriguing because it delves into the symbolic and metaphorical associations of the fruit in various cultural contexts. At its core, this theory proposes that the act of consuming pomegranate seeds mirrors the ritualistic consumption of human flesh, drawing parallels to the taboo practice of cannibalism. The pomegranate, with its vivid red seeds encased within a tough outer shell, becomes a potent symbol of the complexities of desire and consumption. Pomegranates in the light of cannibalism “are messy; they force you to return again and again, dragging you into their wily clutches.”(Lewis, 2021), when thinking about this in relation to love you keep going back to someone, they provide you with an explosion of raw emotions it becomes somewhat of an addiction.
This particular idea of cannibalism as the purest form of love is explored in various forms of media. It is believed that consuming someone is the closest one can become to them. In the movie "Bones and All", cannibalism is portrayed as a way of consuming a loved one entirely, leaving nothing behind. The act twists the fate of the characters forever, and they become one after the female lead eats the male lead. The movie depicts love as an addiction where the characters rely on each other for their existence. The director of the movie suggests ”the best way love expresses itself is the meeting of two loneliness"(James, 2022) that is precisely what you see in the depiction of cannibalism through the lense of a pomegranate, you come together with someone to create that warm environment of love.
Furthering this, a of media I'm going to take example from is Hannibal as "There is an inherently visceral sense of emotion behind the act of needing someone so badly that it leads you to consume them"(Tobya, 2023a) as seen in the show because he uses human meat from people deemed 'rude' and artfully crafts it into fine dining courses. This shows how he cherishes the consumption of others turning it into a performance, an artwork that takes time and all you can give and shares with people he loves, this later on inspired one of our exhibition pieces; a painting of a human figure made of pomegranate insides.
Another brilliant piece of media with queer undertones is 'Yellowjackets' a series about the stranded football team who succumb to the wilderness, further proposing cannibalism as an "offering as a way to forever remain with their loved one"(Tobya, 2023b). The first to be consumed is Jackie, her sacrifice allows them to survive with it being winter and nothing of sustenance able to be hunted around, her love keeps them alive on the brink of death even having her best friend take the first bite chanting she "wants them to"(Kaycee, 2023). It's the plain idea of wanting to be a part of someone, them to be a part of you and in Yellowjackets "Shauna's desire to eat Jackie, read through homoerotic terms as what she's hungry for, offers cannibalism up as a metaphor for relationships between teen girls"(Khan,2023).
Looking at a different form of media mythological tales often associate eating pomegranate seeds with transformation, renewal, and entrapment, as seen in the story of Persephone in Greek mythology. This theory proposes that by examining the pomegranate in the context of cannibalism, we can delve into the psychological and cultural factors that underlie bodily consumption. It also encourages us to contemplate the blurred boundaries between nourishment and how eating one's flesh blurs the line between animalistic behaviour and the purest form of love.
Oranges
Oranges played a significant role in our project because they are often associated with love - “both earthly and heavenly” (Walker, 2017). We used them to symbolize the gentle and feminine love between women. The image of oranges has been present in Greek mythology, just like pomegranates. According to Lisa Schultz (2018), oranges were believed to be the "Golden Apples" of immortality stolen by Hercules from the Garden of Hesperides, which made them sacred to Venus, the goddess of love. Like many fruits, oranges have become predominantly a symbol of forbidden romance replicating the idea of temptation seen by Adam and Eve, “replacing the forbidden fruit” (University of Michigan, n.d). This presents oranges in a light where they are seen as a more tempting, forbidden item. This can be further taken into consideration when you look at the bold and bright colour of the fruit, which can often be an optimistic and uplifting colour. Furthering these ideas, when you look at the fruit in other parts of the world, such as Asia, it is believed that the round shape of the orange represents “unity and completeness” (Santaniello, 2023). In the context of our art, we want the feelings to be seen as lesbian love, giving a warm, loving feeling.
The orange peel theory comes down to the ‘acts of service’ , the idea you do the little thighs for people, producing a nurturing love. The act is being asked to grab your partner an orange, the idea is that “the very small, insignificant-seeming task of peeling an orange for your love (without being asked) is, to many, proof that a partner truly loves and appreciates them”. In the long term we chose this as you love someone enough to want to do little things without complaint, deeply caring for someone acting on the unspoken agreement to give and take.
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Reference list
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James, C. (2022). Luca Guadagnino on Cannibalism as Metaphor. Wall Street Journal.9 Nov. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/still-life-luca-guadagnino-cannibalism-metaphor-venice-international-film-bones-11667941081 [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
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Tobya, M. (2023a). Cannibalism consumes love in ‘Yellowjackets’ and ‘Hannibal’. [ The Michigan Daily. Available at: https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/digging-into-the-heart-of-the-cannibal-romance/ [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
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