Installation view of James Little, Reaching inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides, VOID_MELBOURNE. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Aaron Rees.
….Case in point is the current exhibition, James Little’s Reaching inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides inside your insides. The display includes a series of small graphite drawings, digital prints and—most prominent—three 3D printed black swords. One is bent slightly, apparently the result of sun exposure. Two appear to be balancing with the tip of the blade embedded in the gallery floor, while the third’s blade appears lost in the wall. Here, Little nods to mythical swords, notably the Arthurian legend of Excalibur: a sword embedded in stone, destined to be pulled free by King Arthur. In the most influential version of the tale by Geoffrey of Monmouth, with the power granted by Excalibur, Arthur Pendragon united Britain against the Anglo-Saxon invaders. But the “hero’s sword” trope appears frequently in mythology, manifesting today in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. The mythic sword allows the subject who possesses it access to something beyond the ordinary, beyond the usual grasp of man. With this sword, the hero gains power, knowledge and truth. It’s a blatant phallic symbol.
Read the full review at Memo Review.