Red Coil Head

1984-85

58.5 x 51 x 33 cm

Ash, plywood, piano-wire, glass beads

In 1984, Lijn went on a tour of JET (Joint European Toros). 
This is the European research project into nuclear fusion, to create, as Lijn’s guide put it, ‘a sun on earth.’ The guide called the reactor ‘the tiger’. Lijn thought of the Minotaur, but toros comes from toroidal, doughnut shaped, and not taurus. She was deeply moved by the resemblance of the toroidal shape to her Red Coil Head.

Here men were recreating the most powerful mythic ritual, possibly unaware of its cultural significance. The coiled fire-spitting serpent held captive in the labyrinth. The ritual of transformation: from the sacrifice of the serpent and the burial of parts of its body which sprout in the form of food to the awesome creation of energy.

Photography by Plastiques.