There are two reasons why Elizabeth Bathory fascinates me: 1) our shared Hungarian heritage, 2) my fascination with the juxtaposition between history and myth. Vampire and werewolf myths loom over Eastern Europe, especially Hungary and Romania. With Elizabeth Bathory vampire myths took a U-turn onto reality. Unquestionably, she committed atrocities in the real world. Unquestionably, those same atrocities were exaggerated, transmuted into myth.
I believe vampirism represents an altered state of consciousness rooted in fierce belief. Yes, for me that's the question about Elizabeth Bathory. How fiercely did she believe? Was she just a bored aristocrat dabbling in witchcraft? Was there a political undercurrent driving her? I'd like to think her myth verged on reality. Incorporating sampled/processed images of Kat Bjelland, I created the 26 short animations comprising An Eternal Lightness of Being, superimposing the myth of the blood countess onto pop culture.
In the world of rock 'n' roll Kat Bjelland is a cult figure rather than a star. She gained cult status through fully controlling her public image. Once upon a time Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland were bandmates, collaborators. They have since drifted apart. Indeed, today they are polar opposites. As young women they stylistically tapped kinderwhore imagery. Both left the kinderwhore look behind, entering middle age in a pop culture environment defined by sexual allure. Does sexual allure depend upon youth? To some degree, yes; however, youth far transcends surface veneer and is more about vibrancy, inspiration - above all, passion. Courtney Love grew old fast because she inverted passion into frustration. Kat Bjelland transformed frustration into passion. I am not implying she is a pure soul. Creativity demands an element of rage. We are all growing old. Like Dylan Thomas we "rage, rage against the dying of the light." No one raged more against growing old than Elizabeth Bathory. The common perception, whether one's vantage is history or mythology, is that Elizabeth Bathory was evil. I shun common perceptions, which is why I so appreciate Kat Bjelland, who thrives on the fringe of society, while Courtney Love flounders in the mainstream.
Previously I described Courtney Love's relationship to Kat Bjelland as vampirical. The word vampirical also applies here. The relationship between mainstream media and fringe media is mutually vampirical. Mainstream media exploits the creativity of fringe media, while fringe media feeds at the economic trough of mainstream media. Although there exists no direct connection between Kat Bjelland and Elizabeth Bathory, there is a connection between Kat Bjelland's web mistress, Katie Saarikko, and the blood countess. Katie Saarikko seems as infatuated with the countess as I. The animation running above serves a twofold purpose: 1) as coda to An Eternal Lightness of Being, opening up the blood countess to female imagery beyond Kat Bjelland; 2) offering humble tribute to Katie Saarikko, a fellow devotee of the countess.
Click here to view An Eternal Lightness of Being.
© 2007 Peter Schmideg