What happens when the tragic myth of Sylvia Plath is fed into the relentless machinery of mainstream media?
Deep Skies is a multidisciplinary solo performance that offers a provocative interpretation of one of the first writers to articulate the inner contradictions of womanhood. Moving away from traditional biography, the piece is constructed as a burlesque marathon of television formats. Every milestone in Plath’s life is re-processed through a different TV genre, exposing the rigid molds into which mainstream media fixes the female identity.
Drawing parallels to Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills, the performance uses these "media masks" to challenge gender stereotypes. The experiment utilizes a "ready-made" aesthetic, fusing raw physical performance with found materials—from black-and-white retro commercials to contemporary talkbacks and TikTok trends.
This deliberate mash-up of past and present invites reflection on how much has really changed, despite the "innovative" packaging of modern media. In this light, Plath’s 1950s struggle for agency feels very much our own.