My body is not on display and I am beautiful. I choose to cover myself with icons, drape myself in bright colors, curate phrases to be sprawled across my chest, tie ribbons to my curls, hang jewels from my ears, apply glitter to my eyelids; but this is not for you to look at. Do you think I am beautiful? Why do you look at me? Who gave you permission to look at me? I am not an object on display for your attraction.
... and this stays between us, right? is the first project from two person artist collective cyber//chiffon featuring two touch reactive sculptural objects titled I CAN’T TAKE OFF MY BEAUTIFUL FACE (Taylor Elise Colimore) and maybe I should be biting (Noren Gelberg-Hagmaier) both conceptually and literally in conversation together. Through the use of different coding techniques, the objects talk back and forth between each other and also to the viewers if triggered by their touch. Conceptually, these objects were created from experiences we have had where we felt disrespected, taken advantage of, or judged on the basis of our identities and self-expression. The installation of this exhibition creates a space for our objects, representative of ourselves, to participate in conversations without being interrupted by unsolicited comments. However, due to the nature of an exhibition, viewers are invited to enter the gallery and further to even interact with the objects thus interrupting this conversation. The illuminated objects, when touched, go dark and make a jarring sound to startle the viewer in an effort to advocate for the object’s own autonomy.
Documentation by Noren G-H
