latest
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»Es werde Licht« is an intimate phenomenology of the omnipresent, darkly raging repressive power of female* shame – and at the same time an act of emancipatory liberation.
ICH:
MEDIUM
2025
2026
MALEREI
SKULPTUR
FOTOGRAFIE
VIDEO
Two artists, Jessika Dirks and Edin Bajrić, have been working together since early 2025 and continue to do so in an intensive dialogue. Their shared theme: THE SELF.
Their artistic exploration revolves around the question of what happens when we confront ourselves radically. What layers, what hidden parts, what abysses, what attributions and essences come to light? Which voices fall silent, which begin to speak?
The project explores physicality, inwardness and fragmentation. It examines the SELF as a medium – as both the object and subject of observation. The artistic works reveal how self-observation can be artificial, constructed and yet deeply true at the same time.
»Es werde Licht« is an intimate phenomenology of the omnipresent, darkly raging repressive power of female* shame – and at the same time an act of emancipatory liberation.
es
werde
licht
2024
2025
2026
MALEREI
TEXT
SOUND
VIDEO
It is as if I was born with a guilt, as if every action was preceded by something unforgivable. Every step I take is tinged with shame. Every look in the mirror. Every look into the world is full of longing. Wanting to wriggle into the innocence of another life. To hide in it completely. But soon I am drawn out by what made me yearn in the first place. This guilt. This immense shame. That overshadows my entire existence.
Mama streicht mir über’s Haar.
Und sieht Marceline an.
Gut ist,
wer schön ist.
Das perfekte Mädchen.
Das perfekte Lachen,
volles Haar,
glatte Haut.
So scrollen wir durch das Flimmern der Nacht.
Und jeder Mikrometer an uns
wird observiert.
Korrigiert.
du
sollst
schön
sein
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
MALEREI
TEXT
SOUND
We live in the 21st century and the male gaze still determines the view of women*: the view of society, of men* and, most importantly, of women* themselves - of themselves and other women*. These are judgemental, demanding, hurtful looks. There is a constant shame smouldering over one's own physicality that keeps women* in the chains of patriarchy and constantly demands a high level of resources from everyday life, from one's own energy, weakens women*, makes them small, keeps them small. It is time to break the chains of the past, to free women*, to liberate them. Not through a violent act, but through a loving surrender to one's own physicality - which provides comfort and allows old wounds to heal. By accepting one's own physicality in the context of how women* perceive themselves and others, the patriarchal system can be softened.
