occupation layer
sculpture - video - audio - mixed media
Some time ago a domestic short news item overflowed into the international press territory. An heroic teenager escaped after eight years of captivity in a mad man’s basement. Short after her evasion she gave some interviews. Surprisingly, she appeared as a rather serene and very intelligent young woman. In one of her first interviews she declared: “I made a pact with my older self that I would come back and free that little girl”; this complex statement gives a disturbing but clear picture of the sedimental nature of time in the mind. This piece was first inspired by her testimony.
The kidnaper built a cell in his basement containing everything she could need. From her declarations one could deduce that he was willing to tame a perfect woman. From a certain view point, this kidnapping can be seen as an extreme case of the quotidian reality of millions of women.
In the toys market compact houses are today of great success. They target specifically girls and promote explicitly the pleasures of domestic life. They contain everything that one could need.
occupation layer- excavation 1-simulation
An occupation layer –also called occupation level- is (in Archaeology) a layer of remains left by a single culture, from which the culture can be dated or identified.
An occupation is both the act of occupying and of being occupied.
In the Occupation layer series compact houses are displayed in the form of excavations. As vestiges of contemporary culture found by future archaeologists or as remains of a rescue operation to liberate someone kidnap in a basement.
If you get very close to the sculptures you will hear voices, fragments of dailylife dialogs, noises from electrical appliances, feminine radio and tv…
Might it be possible to free those little girls! Might it not be too late!
Leave a Reply