Inventory 1
A peregrination on the theme of feminism in 2012, which seems so nebulous to me. To some, it is an assertion, a stance, civil disobedience, and to others a form of extremism… words and actions for more freedom. What has happened to feminism? How is it perceived, how was it defined at this time ?
Because of the vastness of the issue and because it has been so widely covered, I felt the need to reach out to others, to listen to them through the use of recorded conversations, so that the person questioned would feel at ease with a certain type of interview, with a sense of intimacy. Like a micro-space of freedom to rethink and redefine knowledge patterns and better question the representation systems that we use.
To us, the body is the measure of the world, “the interface between social and individual, nature and culture, physiological and symbolic.” This is why I wanted to introduce visuals on the social being in relation to the space it occupies. Photographs which can represent a physicality that is mapped yet alive via its skin, its voice – a protean, shapeless, sometimes life-worn physicality, whether intimate or not, abused and intrinsic to each woman and, soon, each man whom I talked with, outlining personal gestures by evoking feminism with full or no knowledge of the facts, with aversion, curiosity, generosity, or humor, and often showing high sensitivity.
This feminist peregrination is merely initiated with Etat des Lieux 1, a collection of observations in English by a young Greek woman who has been living in Berlin since childhood. In this recording, the subject reclaims the word ‘feminism’ as her own through the use of words such as ‘freedom’ and ‘beauty’, and by questioning herself on her own feelings, perceptions, and preconceived ideas.
*A random soundtrack, audible throughout the gallery, which consists in multiple recordings of conversations in several mother tongues – like so many acoustic ricochets involving views on feminism.
Conception and creation : Cécile Guillaume
Conversation and visuals : a woman in Berlin wishing to remain anonymous.
Treatment of soundtrack 1 and random soundtrack : Isaac Chia.
* The other series will be published here shortly.