While chronic paresthesia is a neurological disorder, temporary paresthesia is a common occurrence. Also known colloquially as a limb “falling asleep”, the pins and needles sensation generally manifests due to pressure on a nerve or poor circulation caused by bodily idleness. Ander Rennick’s solo exhibition at Mejia, Sélection de Paresthésie Prestige, translates as a “selection of prestige paresthesia”.
Lining the walls is a collection of composite images fusing the archetypical femme fatale greats of paranoiac noir fused with an almost-complete catalogue of Nintendo handheld consoles, from the Game & Watch released in 1980 up to the most recent Nintendo Switch in 2017. Joan Crawford in Possessed (1947), Jennifer Jones in Love Letters (1945), Bette Davis in Dark Victory (1939): these characters all represent instability or madness as it manifests in the oneiric inability to distinguish between unreality and reality. The gothic themes of these films centred on the fears associated with the medical gaze, the psychic illness of desire and the home as it was beginning to break apart and atomise as women developed increased autonomy in the spheres of work, consumption and relationships.
Audrey Schmidt is a writer and Melbourne Personality.
