The eye can only either ›see‹ or ›look at‹ someone. The possibility of being ›looked at‹ – the recognition of the self in the eyes of another – is a constituent part of our sociality. And yet, the other’s gaze blinds our own in the moment they meet: when we find ourselves being ›looked at‹, we no longer see the eyes that look upon us, but rather the gaze of the other person in itself.

A photograph, on the other hand, enables us to observe someone without having our gaze returned. Photography has thus reinforced our voyeuristic view of the world – making it seem more available to us than it really is, for spatial and temporal distances dissolve in the paradoxical simultaneity of absence and presence of the photographed object.

Objekt;Performanz is both a critical and creative exploration of how bodies perceived as feminine acquire an image function within the system of symbolic representation. This occurs through their positioning as the ›Other‹ in relation to the predominantly white and male subject, resulting in a metaphorical alignment with the object-like reality of the image itself.

Based on the notion that our gaze is a social and cultural category and part of the representational system of language, Objekt;Performanz explores normative and gender-specific implications of ›seeing‹ and ›being seen‹ through the lens of a camera, while trying to confuse the rules and limits of the medium itself.

Essay und Ausstellung:
Katharina Stahlhofen

Abschlussarbeit Integrated Design (B.A.)
Köln International School of Design

nominiert für den Kölner Designpreis