JESSICA MENSCH

INFLATABLE DEITIES IS THE ONGOING COLLABORATIVE PROJECT BETWEEN MYSELF AND EMILY PELSTRING

INFLATABLE DEITIES projects are expanded fictions in which stories unfold across multiple media including video, installation, and performance. We use this expanded approach to deal with the complexity of nightmarish situations, such as the true-story murder upon which the Amityville Horror fiction franchise is based, the rivalry between two small-town beauty supply store owners, and a scientific expedition to the future where a brain-eating virus has decimated humanity. Whatever the premise, our work incorporates a cast of characters that we have developed through improvised performance and the surrealist assemblage of costume pieces and props. These characters range from a muttering elderly woman, to a human-sized rabbit, to a skinny, haggard Santa Claus. They morph and reappear across multiple works, constituting an expanded mythology unique to our collaboration.

INFLATABLE DEITIES has received production support and exhibition opportunities from many institutions, including The Confederation Centre of the Arts (Charlottetown), the Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery (Sarnia), the FoFA Gallery (Montreal), SAW Video Association (Ottawa), the PHI Centre (Montreal), Pop Montreal International Music Festival, Electric Eclectics Festival (Meaford), Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival (Montreal), Studio XX (Montreal), PDA Projects (Ottawa), Gallery 8eleven (Toronto).