Electric Oil Jessica Sarah Rinland, 2012

In 1868, Laura Jernegan, a 6 year old girl from Massachusetts, USA set out on a three year whaling voyage to the Pacific Ocean. During this voyage, Laura wrote a journal about her life on the whaling ship. She mainly notes banal daily events, but regularly describes the slaughter of whales in great detail. ELECTRIC OIL explores the assumption that a 6 year old, observing the slaughter of whales on a regular basis, could have huge psychological and physical trauma in her later years. Lauras allergy to oil, which subsequently triggers the uncontrollable act of ridding her skin of all materials, represents this trauma. The text in ELECTRIC OIL, written by Lauras physiologist, examines the stimulus for this trauma and the abstract imagery represents Lauras formation of the memory.