Mary Jane’s Mishap - 2022

Mary Jane’s Mishap is a self-portrait. A pair of the artist’s shoes sit on the floor and periodically emit smoke.

The title makes reference to the 1903 trick film Mary Jane’s Mishap; or, Don’t Fool with the Paraffin, credited to director George Albert Smith. The film is pioneering in its camera and editing techniques – using a double exposure ‘trick’ to depict the ghost of housemaid Mary Jane, played by  Smith’s wife Laura Bayley, who blows herself up trying to light the stove with paraffin. 

Bayley is now known to have contributed significantly, not just as a comic actress, but also behind the lens as an uncredited director and cinematographer in her husband’s films - likely herself developing the camera illusion that allows her character to disappear on film.

smoke modules, microcontroller, the artist’s shoes

55 x 40 x 35 cm

photos: Sander van Wettum and Roland Baege

Photo by Sander van Wettum