Reinickendorf
The fetish of the image - Interviews
Videos
2018-2019
Location: Shanghai / Hong Kong / Augsburg
Format: Full HD, 7" digital screens, framed
Duration: 4-6 minutes
Subtitles: English
The fetish of the image
Moli Tutu: Photograph
160x215cm
2019
Public institution – a place designed to be transparent, uniformed and for all. But is it really so, and can it truly host everyone, without exception? Or maybe it does, but it happens unconsciously, invisibly and beyond everyone else imagination? Could it be surprising, unveiling or perplexing and breaking one’s daily routine rather than repeating it? The videos and photographs, less than a documentary about a particular subculture, focus on the very idea of disguise and creating an alternative identity. A mask has always belonged to the sphere of mystery. When appearing in a public, institutional space, the strange yet eye-catching, disguised bodily silhouettes have a chance to become a surprise, an unimagined and never heard-about yet realistically existing characters that intrigue, fascinate and explain their endeavours.
Female Masking derives from the notion that human being consists of elements of two genders. Here, a mask proves to be a medium that allows one to experience and express their „second”, female nature, while not irreversibly abandoning the native, male identity. Rather than deluding other people or faking
one’s image, the disguise serves revealing, exploring and expressing identity and sexuality beyond the Western binary gender model and the social and political structures. It certainly proves to be a contemporary phenomenon that, although among many others hidden, proves to be widely present in society.
The proposed works derive from the photography and video-based project “Fetish of the Image” from 2018-2019.