Doormats | Wrocław | Out of sth | 15.06.2012
We are testing our own boundaries as well as those of the passers by.
We initate an oppresive situation for us – women locked up below street level. We are also exposing people to an uncomfortable view of a woman in an unnatural and constricted setting. She is exposed to spitting, cigarette butts, having beer being poured over her, as well as being instulted, criticised and humiliated.
Partly it’s us who endanger the pedestrians. From a seemengly defensless position, we are creators of a gloomy joke. People are scared of us, and express fear of heart attacks. The reactions are strong and vivid: most people want to help and rescue us by calling the police or an ambulance. Having learnt that we had not been forced to be there, the initial caring reaction turns into anger and disappointment; they feel deceived. The whole scene is very violent but subtle enough that some walk by without noticing.