Faculty of Design

Material Art & Design

Christina van Putten

Icarus's Flight Towards the Sun (Pride)

The concept of hubris, or excessive pride, is a core theme in many Greek myths, most famously, that of Icarus, Daedalus and Gilgamesh. Daedalus and Gilgamesh both ignore very specific warnings because they think they know better – in the case of Daedalus and Icarus, Daedalus constructs a pair of wax wings for he and Icarus to escape with, warning not to fly too close to the sun or the sea. All aspects of this work are handmade. Modelled on Christina van Putten.The components of the chain detail the story of Icarus’ wax wings (which have been appropriately created using the lost wax casting method) disintegrating the closer they get to the sun.