The Glass Coffin – Made up Movie Poster 2020

Editor: We're looking at Robert Sammelin's "The Glass Coffin – Made up Movie Poster" from 2020, created using photography and posters. It strikes me as a really disturbing, but also intriguing, vintage horror film advertisement. The figures seem trapped and vulnerable. What symbols or cultural references stand out to you? Curator: The image evokes potent symbols tied to both eroticism and mortality. Consider the "glass coffin" itself: in folklore, glass often represents purity or fragility, but a coffin...that's a boundary, isn't it? A point of no return. The female figure, displayed so prominently, is a loaded icon. Editor: How so? Curator: Well, think about how women's bodies have been historically represented in art, often simultaneously idealized and objectified. In horror specifically, the female body becomes a site of vulnerability, threat, and, sometimes, even monstrous power. The positioning, almost crucified, with blood, recalls martyrdom. Ask yourself what other imagery of captivity or transformation does this summon for you? Editor: I hadn't thought about the crucifixion angle. So it’s using both the seductive and the sacrificial? It does remind me of old vampire films. Curator: Precisely. The poster manipulates a complex tapestry of symbols. Notice the contrasting red and the fleshy green-grey of the central figure. A striking color palette which conveys a sense of sickness, of death. Ultimately the title is promising inescapable peril. It asks us, how does fear and fascination intermingle to create a captivating visual narrative? Editor: That push and pull between attraction and repulsion really comes across. It's fascinating how the artist layers meaning. Thank you! Curator: My pleasure. Looking closely at visual languages opens up whole new worlds.