FEMonumental Transformance

While we use public spaces we pass by several monuments, not recognizing most of them. Monuments are physical forms of commemoration, erected by those in power to ‘reconstruct the past in such a way that [it] is taking part in the present and the future’ (Kulisic & Tudman 2009, p. 132). Rebecca Schneider (2022), who refers to a quote of De Certeau, describes the monuments’ agendas of the past as ‘secrets’. The public unconsciously accepts the statements made by monuments as they pass by. Only interruptions, such as public protests, reveal the not so secret ‘secrets’ of the monuments (Schneider 2022, p.1-4). FEMonumental Transformance seeks to reveal their patriarchal ‘secrets’. Within patriarchal society, monuments embody, represent and recreate patriarchal conceptions using ‘gendered symbolism’ (Pejic 2015). Patriarchy as a form of social order and control where men hold primary power, has built the foundation of our societies for more than 4000 years (Lerner 1986). All our western thought (including philosophy, religion, history, sciences) is based on the construction of gender with everything defined as ‘female/feminine’ subordinate to the ‘male/masculine’ (Lerner 1986). Patriarchal and sexist conceptions shape our perception and thought, constantly refreshed through impressions from our surroundings, such as monuments. How can we transform such patriarchal structures using transmedia performance art?

FEMonumental Transformance is an artistic method and concept to transform existing patriarchal monuments into FEMonumental (feminist monumental) practices. It is a confrontation of bodies in the here and now: of the monument and the female*[1] or non-binary body of the artist. The project uses performative explorations, experimental movie making, writing, and overpainting of performance photographs. The aim is to detect specific patriarchal structures and create publicly alternative, intersectional queer feminist (hooks, Grosz, Ahmed) practices in their place. The created FEMonumental practices are performative and visual experiments, moments of reflection in the process of unlearning patriarchy. Included in the project is the FEMonumental Guide, a toolkit providing a test to determine if a monument is patriarchal, along with methods with which to transform monuments. This kit is available to other artists to use in their own socio-political and cultural contexts, to create a collection of FEMonumental practices.

The term ‘FEMonumental’ merges feminist theory with approaches to monuments and public space, while the term ‘Transformance’ refers to the transformative transmedia performance art involved in the artistic process.

[1] The * after the terms female*, woman* and women* highlights that ‘woman/female’ is a socially constructed gender that includes everyone who identifies as ‘woman/female’. The * also marks these terms as excluding against people with another gender than male or female, like non-binary and intersexual people. I need/use these terms to analyse the patriarchal structures, which “think” in/through the gender binary system.

To reveal the specific patriarchal attributes and ‘secrets’ of a monument, FEMonumental Transformance uses a ‘Test for patriarchal structures’. This is used in a performative exploration experiment on site. Patriarchal structures may be found in the material choices of the monument, its historical context, the symbols it uses, its inscriptions, the way it is used by public, how it is taken care of, who or what it represents, or how it represents something/someone. The results of this first performative experiment are reworked into patriarchal statements, as if the monument is talking to the public and used in the second performative experiment (see picture 1).

It is important to consider the individual experiences of the person who makes the Test with the monument, as overlapping forms of social privileges, discriminations or indifferences shape our individual perceptions. The second performative Experiment with the monument is a ritual-like transformation of the found patriarchal structures into FEMonumental ideas through playing with ‘what if…’ and turning the patriarchal attributes into their opposites (see pictures 2 and 3).

The results from the first two performative explorations are the starting point for the visual explorations: FEMonumental ideas are further developed through movie-making, overpainting of performance photographs and writing (see pictures 4, 5, 6 and 7). An essential part of the transmedia process is the reflection of patriarchal thoughts and critiques that arise towards the created FEMonumental ideas (see picture 8). The process of revealing and reflecting on patriarchal symbols, attributes and thought is the goal of the project, not ‘perfect’ FEMonumental practices, but the practice of ongoing reflection towards an intersectional queer feminist future. Resulting FEMonumental Practices are then performed at the site of the monument, creating a performative FEMonument which disrupts the patriarchy dominance of public space (see picture 9).

Picture 4: Overpainting “serving the people as a true leader”, inspired by the FEMonumental idea of laying the monument onto the ground. Picture 5: text-based painting that asks the viewer to imagine to be in the overpainting.

Picture 6 and 7: video stills from the movie making process to elaborate on the FEMonumental idea of a fluffy soft moving monument.

Arising from the tradition of feminist performance artists of the 1970s, FEMonumental practices are a form of ‘performative monuments’ (Widrich 2014). They consider the paradoxical experiences of women* and non-binary people, which result from multiple, overlapping forms of discrimination (racism, classism, ableism, sexism …) within public spaces which are designed by men for men (Rose 1993). In patriarchal society, women* AND their subordination are associated with the private sphere, diminishing their concerns as individual problems (Garcia 2021). Bringing feminist topics into the public sphere, helps shifting the understanding of what is private and what is public in collective thought (Fraser 1992), making women*, non-binary people and their experiences part of collective concern, collective memory and public space. Guided by a ‚feminism for the 99%‘ (Arruzza et al 2022), FEMonumental practices address overlapping crises and strive to envision a society beyond capitalism, ecological exploitation and all forms of subordination.

‚Transformance‘ stands for transformative transmedia performance. It includes a ritual-like transformative performance with stages of entrance, deconstruction, liminal stage and creation of new FEMonumental practices. Akin to a ‚ritual of passage’ (Van Gennep, Turner, cited in Schechner 2013) this performative exploration facilitates creative transformations of patriarchal structures within a marked space. The documentation from the performative explorations (video, audio, photographs) form the basis for further visual explorations of FEMonumental ideas through video making, writing and overpainting of photographs. This transmedia aspect enables analysis and reflection on patriarchal structures within the monument, within public space, within the body and mind of the artist and within the new FEMonumental ideas. ‚Transmedia‘ signifies movement across various media, breaking traditional art circuits and contributing to knowledge construction beyond disciplinary boundaries. This constant movement aligns with the idea of transdisciplinarity, an effective approach to deal with complexity and interconnectedness. ‚Performance‘ within Transformance emphasizes performativity, reflecting on actions, interactions, and relations, drawing inspiration from feminist performance artists like VALIE EXPORT, Marina Abramovic, and Yoko Ono. Performance art and monuments both have performative force and the ability to effect changes in social reality (Widrich 2014), shared aspects that are utilized by FEMonumental Transformance. Thus Transformance integrates ritual structure, bodily presence, and transmediality to unveil and transform complex patriarchal structures and commemorative practices in public space.

Transform a patriarchal monument in your neighbourhood with the FEMonumental Guide, a DIY workshop.

The complete documentation of the artistic research process is available here: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1728700/1728701

 

Bibliography

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