Fairy Tales by the Sea

Den Hauge, Netherlands –

Something I’ve always found interesting is looking at the similarities and differences between cultures.

One aspect of this, in particular, are the fairy tales and other stories that we tell our kids as they are growing up.

And having grown up in the U.S., a descendant of mostly European ancestors…

Among other kids with similar ancestry…

There are a lot of stories and tales that I grew up with that came from Europe.

Yet go to any particular region in Europe and dig deep enough, I can come up with tales that are unfamiliar and new to me.

Some of them have to do with the nature of the tales.

There’s a whole batch of stories from Celtic lands that are Druidic in nature, and thus were not part of my childhood.

Primarily because there has been a systematic effort to suppress this stories due to their heretical nature.

At least in the eyes of the particular flavor of religion that I was raised in.

No, those stories I had to discover on my own, once I was old enough to become aware that they existed.

But take religion out of it, and there are still other stories that are known to a region and culture but not very well known outside of it.

These tales, both familiar and not, often come out in the art made for a specific place.

Like with the collection of sculptures overlooking the beach in Den Hauge.

There were some that I knew the stories right away.

Like the kid with his finger stuck in the dike.

That’s one tale from Holland that is fairly well known.

At least in the U.S., if not most of the world.

It’s one that most of us can understand and relate to.

At least once we know what a dike is.

I know I pictured it as a big dam, holding the water back.

Then there were others that seemed vaguely familiar, although I couldn’t name the tale myself.

It’s like I had heard or read the story sometime in my youth, but wasn’t familiar enough to name it outright.

Or even recall any of the details of the tale.

Some of these may have been due to artistic license.

The artist who created these sculptures had a style that he was using, and some of the tales may have needed to be modified to suit the style.

Such as the giant who is locked on the ground, with a miniature figure standing in his hand, holding the key.

Is this an adaptation of the famous scene in Gulliver’s Travels, or another tale altogether?

There was something about it that seemed familiar enough to make me think it was a different story, but not one that I could bring to mind.

And then there were those that had no familiar frame of reference to me.

The figure with the globe head (and body) handing some object to another figure while standing on the gallows with the noose around his neck.

Not ringing any bells of familiarity what so ever.

But since the artist created these all based on regional fairy tales, some famous, some not, I know there has got to be some children’s tale behind it.

And I can only guess what it might be.

Something to do with convicting and killing the world?

Assuming that my interpretation of the latitude and longitude grid on the figure’s head are really that, and his head is a globe.

I can only guess.

And use my imagination.

Something that didn’t surprise me was the number of these tales that involved fish.

Or maybe they’re all whales.

The one with the key in its mouth, either giving it to, or taking it from a king.

The one following the figures in what looks like a paper hat-boat.

And then there’s the one that’s definitely a whale, with one figure tied to its back, while another is in its mouth.

After all, this was a sea-faring nation.

It’s only logical that a lot of their fairy tales would involve the sea.

And sea life of some form or another.

But what I found most interesting about the whole installation was the interplay of the different tales.

You throw a bunch of scenes from disparate stories together in the same physical space, and it only makes sense to create some interactions between them.

One of the first figures I saw as I came up the street past the entrance to the Beelden aan Zee museum were the “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” trio overlooking the chaotic scene below.

With their backs turned to the figure behind them.

Whacking a smaller figure on the head with a big hammer.

As if they didn’t want to acknowledge it was happening.

After all, it’s their very nature to ignore that sort of thing.

What with the whole hear/see/speak no evil thing going on.

It all about deniability.

You’d think they worked in politics.

“I have no idea how that brick of money ended up in my freezer…

“I’m as surprised as anyone to find it there.”

Yep, if you keep denying the truth, you can create your own reality.

And hopefully, everyone around you will buy into it.

But then again, that’s what fairy tales are all about.

Exposing the reality under the façade that people pretend to be fact.

And teaching wisdom earned over generations.

Even if you don’t know that’s what you’re learning.

Or even that you are learning…

Sneaky.

That education thing…

 

For more photos of the Fairy Tales By The Sea in Den Hauge, click here.