As an exercise I want to compare us to the well-known witch trio, the Witches of Eastwick, because these three supernatural wonders are all artists of sorts. There is the tough-as-shit sculptress, Cher (Maggie), the shy-but-sensual journalist, Michelle Pfeiffer (Claudia), and the uptight and somewhat nerdy cellist, Susan Sarandon (myself). Of course we vary from these archetypes, but for the most part, we'll let the comparisons stand. Even though we have three different types of personalities who each have different methods of executing our artistic works, when we join forces, as in the case of the women of Eastwick, we can create mutually beneficial results.
Malleus Maleficarum
Malleus Maleficarum or, The Hammer of Witches completed in 1486 by two fanatical Dominicans, Henrikus Kramer and Joseph Sprenger during the regime of Pope Innocent VIII and which became popular with the help of the printing press is an exposition on witchcraft and a code of procedure for the detection and punishment of witches and other evil creatures such as vampires, incubi and succubi (male and female night demons). On the question: "Why is it that women are chiefly addicted to evil superstitions?" the Malleus Maleficarum says: "...it must be said... that three general vices appear to have special dominion over wicked women, namely, infidelity, ambition, and lust. Therefore they are more than others inclined towards witchcraft, who more than others are given to these vices. Again, since of these vices the last chiefly predominates, women being insatiable, etc., it follows that those among ambitious women are more deeply infected who are more hot to satisfy their filthy lusts; and such are adulteresses, fornicatresses, and the concubines of the Great."
Another juicy little quote from Malleus Maleficarum: "What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colours!"
The three women of Eastwick socialized here and there not realizing they were witches or that they had so much creative power. But during a night of talk and drink, they accidentally invoke the devil, Darryl Van Horn (Jack Nicholson). Although our trio has no "devil" of which to speak, we assuredly bring about a commotion when we are together summoning the powers of "art" instead of "darkness" (or maybe both simultaneously). Once Jack appears in the life of the witches, they realize they have unusual talents and begin to excel at their artistic endeavors. He becomes their sort-of male muse with his talk of seduction and female power. He even spews something of a feminist manifesto to Sarandon as he is about to drive her passionate with music, and then of course "do it" to her.
"...just another example of male-dominated professions socially exploiting females for their own selfish purposes. Their dicks get limp when confronted by women of obvious power. And what do they do? Call them witches. Burn them. Torture them until every woman is afraid-afraid of herself, afraid of men, and all for what? Fear of losing their hard-on!"
Now, these are strong words from mister Jack-the-Devil (leaning a bit too feminist for even the staunchest of them!) Such feminist ideals in a devil! Of course his aim is to increase their powers by creating his own little hellish division (by "doing it" with each of the witches). In the end, he eventually succeeds in empowering the women, but ultimately he drives himself out. What need do we have, really, of a devil or even of feminist ideals when we have art to empower us? And this is exactly what the three women realize. So they decide-in a very artistic, and somewhat-feminist-infused after school special ceremony (involving a Jack-like voodoo wax figure)--to cast him out. In the end they take over his magnificent estate and-surprise surprise!-end up with three little devil babies all fathered by the master himself! In a very poignant final scene, there is a sort of Nam-Jun Paik-looking installation of television monitors in the living room, toward which the babies all navigate in little baby-mover devices. When Jack appears on the multiple television screens to coax his spawn to him, he is cut short by the witches who flick him off with a remote control.
Since we have not yet invoked the devil, nor have we spawned any devil babies, you could otherwise consider our finished pieces as being our own figurative monstrous toddlers of art-full of feist and problems-a constant source of hair-pulling, birthed through the confusion of being a female artist, and also through the confusion of being an artist in general. Eventually the initial conceptions and labor pains create healthy little art projects that grow into works aided by the support of other like-minded beings.