197 Ill Intentions Hidden in Public View

Jessica Earle

            As I stood by the dream catcher I noticed people going in and out of a dark little passageway into an even darker room to what seemed like another installation but I was hesitant to check it out myself. That is, until I heard a few people say “wow, that was amazing” or “that was really worth checking out!”. Titled 197 Ill Intentions Hidden in Public View by Jessica Earle, I was puzzled by what could possibly be displayed inside this brick cave. When I ducked under the doorway and took a few steps inside, my attention was directed towards the far corner walls where a looped video was being projected onto the corner of the small dark and dusty room. On the left side of the video was a naked woman wrapping ropes around her body in a tight and somewhat tangled manner. On the other part of the video the same woman was trying to take off the same ropes she had just wrapped around herself. There were also ropes lying on the floor just in front of the wall where the video was being projected. It hit me instantly how vulnerable and restricted we all can become within a situation. We continue to layer on the ropes, tangling ourselves up in something that will only keep restricting us. But then we realize how capable we are of getting ourselves out of a "dark brick cave, covered in ropes" on our own, as did the woman on the right who had started taking the ropes off of her body. And then, feeling hopeful and inspired, I turned around and walked back out into the rest of the old beautifully lit building full of people who love art. Well done Jessica Earle.