An Attempt

This installation is titled ‘The attempt’ and consists of an oil painting and a bowl of 16 composed tangerines.

The fragrant fruit functions in the same manner as the Proust’s Madeleine and takes us on a road to the village where the artist grew up.

Nameless buildings seem to block the road which is crowned by a church tower, the watchful structure that observes and regulates and refers to the patriarchal structure. The artist’s self portrait is both creator and creation as she takes centre stage. The physical double of the tangerines on the painting adds an olfactory aspect to the work.

The viewer’s attention is being pulled between the physical item and the image. Which came first and which one is more real?

 

Conceptualised as an answer on a video by fictional artist ‘Bart Vrijvogel’, the tangerine, a clear representation of the female sex, is restored and presented as whole again. The figure’s gesture is careful, almost tender. The artist takes ownership of her sex, not only on a physical, but also on an intellectual level. A clear answer to the brute force used on the fruit in the video ‘ DIY: Fake vagina’.