A Cage in Search of a Bird

Franz Kafka once wrote in his diary; I am a cage in search of a bird. 

I find myself wondering what he meant by this. How is he a cage? And if he is searching for something to fill himself, is he then implying that he is empty? Is he admitting that he is lacking in some way, needing to be occupied or inhabited in order to be made whole? Is this empty cage the hollow cavern of the mind or perhaps the love shaped hole in the heart And what does the bird signify? Kafka is well known for his fascination with love. His numerous letters to Milena Jesenská, Felice Bauer and Dora Diamant attest to this fact. Considering this, some might suppose that the bird he speaks of could represent a soulmate, another person that he can take inside of himself and keep them there latching the door behind them. But I wonder if the bird is indeed a representation of love. Perhaps he searching for something more intangible more difficult to define? 

The stoics believe that inspiration is a transitory thing that comes and goes. That we are not in fact the architects of our own creativity but that ‘ideas’ are things that come to those who know how to be open. But birds don’t fly willingly into cages just because they are open. The environment must be welcoming - a sanctuary rather than a trap. Is the first step to finding the bird simply to admit that the cage is vacant? If we see the mind as a void and inspiration as something that we do not own, then perhaps we can make space for this bird, and allow it to come and go as it pleases. 

The works for this show were inspired by my novel Many Shallows which was in turn inspired by Franz Kafka and his three great loves, Felice, Milena and Dora. Many Shallows is divided into three parts, each one dedicated to a fantastical reimagining of each woman’s life. Instead of being the main character, Kafka is represented as a spectre or elemental spirit living in the forest, in each story he resides in a different location, down a well, in a windmill, at the centre of a maze. Through their dreams he communicates with the women, luring them into the heart of the forest, bestows on each a kind of metamorphosis, granting them freedom from the cages of their lives.