2. The Occupants
The concept of the mugs for the Jetty Shack employed the ‘Internal Family Systems’ model as the inspiration for the storyline.
In Australia, eligible patients can access medicinal cannabis via an authorised prescriber doctor. Cannabis medicine comes in different forms such as oils, capsules, edibles, concentrates and dry flower. Read more at Health Direct.
At the Jetty Shack all the medicines on the ‘Medicine Shelf’ are available in unlimited quantities with unrestricted access.
Ceramic stoneware bottle, emerald green glaze.
Height: 23cm
Width: 17cm
Red is the main character. Her role is to protect Marianne by reacting to threatening events. Her job is 24/7 she must be ready to respond to fear, with fight or flight, at all times.
Red is afflicted by the trauma of multiple disturbing events. She is a survivor of several wounding incidents, their sheer number have taken a wearing toll.
These days her body reacts to both scary and non-scary events with the same intensity. She suffers exhaustion from the constant fight for survival. She lacks the ability to limit impulses and behaviours as a result of overwhelming emotion. Red responds to danger to save Marianne but has lost control of her reaction to false alarms.
A mere startle floods toxic amounts of adrenaline into her blood immediately, plunging her into symptoms of poisoning.
Stoneware mug, 24K gold plating, by Marianne Annereau.
Graffiti is the creative part of Marianne. She was the first Marianne who volunteered to help Red sort through the photos under the fog at the Jetty Shack.
Graffiti has her own creative nook at the Jetty Shack. It is equipped with art materials including pencils, paints, string, wire, glue, clay and weaving prongs. As she moves through daily life Graffiti lives and breathes artistically. She expresses herself through art obviously but she completed everyday mundane tasks as though she were producing artwork. She washes the dishes by swirling the dish foam in a unique way, folds clean clothing expressively and artistically shampoos her hair.
At the beach, Graffiti doesn’t walk along the sand. She dances the entire shoreline releasing how she feels inside. Her short hair resembles the crest of a cockatoo, moving dynamically with her mood like magic. Graffiti is dedicating all her creative skills to help Red process trauma through art therapy. Red paid the ultimate price of trauma. Graffiti owes her life of art to Red.
Stoneware mug, 24K gold plating, by Marianne Annereau.
Fuckanne is a rebel. She wears ripped jeans held together with 50 safety pins 24/7 whether she is walking, swimming, sleeping or hunting in the jungle. Her role at the project is to ‘rally the crowd’ but she is at the Jetty Shack with the other Mariannes. Fuckanne would die to save Red. She has taken it upon herself to bolster Red’s spirit.
Stoneware mug, 24K gold plating, by Marianne Annereau.
Flame is always her true self. Never swung by mood. Flame is the driver of the Marianne Project. She removed 5 Mariannes away from the project and moved them over to the Jetty Shack to help Red sort through the photos. Flame doesn’t have the answers to the future. When the group is lost she steers them to wherever they need to be looking.
Stoneware mug, 24K gold plating, by Marianne Annereau.
All the Mariannes sleep peacefully at the Shack . Except for Red.
Night after night, Red battles insomnia at the Jetty Shack. While the other Mariannes rest and restore, Red thrashes around in her sleeping pod, knocking against the five wooden walls. Tucked inside the sleeping berth she twists in her hot, red bedding, plagued with agitation and sadness from the deep cut of being wounded over and over in the same place. She is forced to sleep this bothered way because her instinct is disgruntled, her spirit misaligned. She has aching dreams of a mother whale crying songs of despair echoing deep in the ocean. The chorus feels like wailing from a female humpback's despair. The whale’s call is Red’s own subconscious singing out in agony. It gets louder throughout the night until it's a deafening ring.
The sound waves from Red’s wailing spills from the Jetty Shack windows into the bay. They travel over the water, across the bay in every direction towards the horizon, all through the night.
In daylight, a healer visits the Jetty Shack after hearing the song in the bay overnight. He counsels Red that the whale’s song is of significance. He encourages her to search for the meaning and connection to the song. The healer reaches into his tote bag and gifts Red a pottery whale. He tells her that she can blow into the mouth of the whale softly. When the air hits the blowhole of the whale it works as a flute whistle. Red’s subconscious does not need to wail anymore, she can use the whale whistle instead. The healer can be overheard, saying in an Irish accent, “Essentially, you’ll be healing yourself”.
Iron rich stoneware, sage green glaze ceramic whale whistle.