PERSONALAUSWEIS Civilization strives to create order from the random chaos of existence. Classification enhances distinctions : dark and light, this and that, hidden and revealed, sacred and profane. The resulting duality has the capacity to positively forge inspiring structure whilst retaining the power to negatively generate sinister divisions. PERSONALAUSWEIS examines the effects of codification, employing iconography as a tool to articulate difference. The naked male form, tripled in this work, is ‘every-person’ : the absence of color, of cultural markings, and of revealed sexuality reduces the auto-image of the artist to a template for his study. Humility necessitates a ‘fig leaf’, referencing the most critical of all divisions ... the primal separation of man from (his) God. The resulting repeated figures are uniquely branded with specific nation-flags; the graphic stamp of geopolitical identity is superimposed on the graphic image of male nudity. The subsequent symbolism reflects the corresponding attitudes of the three monotheistic religions towards the act of circumcision. Christianity has no specific edit to administer the process. Judaism revers the practice as a sacred covenant between man and God - a cultural formation of the body. Islam considers the proceeding as a traditional rite of passage into adulthood. The questioning of the morality and relevance of circumcision in a humanistic society raises concerns of commitment to the acceptance of and appreciation for diversity. This oeuvre interprets the (self) imposed limitations of the human condition, and urges the viewer to be a tolerant participant. The final ‘clin d’oeil’ is a coy invitation to leave polemics behind and to cross the threshold; deployed appropriately, identity is a potent and unifying portal to broader universal ideals.
Harley Swedler New York 2014
HAUT AB (SNIP IT) CIRCUMCISION | Brit Milah Exhibition Jüdisches Museum Berlin Dr. Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, Guest Curator Cilly Kugelmann, Deputy Director and Director of Program, Jüdisches Museum Berlin Martina Lüdicke, Curator, Jüdisches Museum Berlin 23 October 2014 - Spring 2015
PERSONALAUSWEIS
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