Object, Installation Dimensions: 21x31cm Production: Mileva Lela Popović June 2019
Object, Installation Dimensions: 21x31cm Production: Mileva Lela Popović June 2019
Object, Installation Dimensions: 21x31cm Production: Mileva Lela Popović June 2019
Object, Installation Dimensions: 21x31cm Production: Mileva Lela Popović June 2019

Object, Installation Dimensions: 21x31cm Production: Mileva Lela Popović June 2019

Object, Installation Dimensions: 21x31cm Production: Mileva Lela Popović June 2019

Object Dimensions: 52x136cm October 2020


The idea behind this piece is perhaps best described as a symbolic merging of the dichotomy between the woman-as-a-sex-object and the woman-as-a-perfect-wife-housewife-mother, the two dominant constructs of the female gender role whose function is to maintain the easy life of the male part of the population engendered or sustained by the construct of religion as such. I focus on Orthodox Christianity because I take the personal as my starting point. I grew up in an Orthodox family where I developed an ambivalence towards these two poles of the female gender role, one of which I was expected to opt for. I make an intervention by modifying the cut of a dress which conforms to the traditional Christian dress code for women – a long, long-sleeved dress without a cleavage. I free it of fabric in the genital area by materialising the negative shape of the cross, and the result is a uniform of both a “prostitute” and a “decent family woman”.
"Usnila je dubok sanak" (“She Dreamt a Deep Dream”) is a traditional Serbian song that speaks from the position of a young woman about the plan to restore the nation through reproduction.
Ideja ovog rada najbliža je simboličkom spajanju dihotomije žena-kao-seksualni-objekt i žena-kao-savršena-domaćica-supruga-majka, dva dominantna konstrukta unutar registra ženske rodne uloge, čija je funkcija održavanje lagodnog života muškog dijela populacije, a koji su nastali ili se hrane unutar konstrukta religije kao takve. Stavljam fokus na hrišćanstvo jer krećem iz ličnog, s obzirom na iskustvo odrastanja u pravoslavnoj porodici gdje se gradila ambivalentnost unutar mog identiteta na granici između ova dva pola ženske rodne uloge, od kojih se za jedan „moram odlučiti“. Vršim intervenciju u kroju haljine, koji odgovara tradicionalnom hrišćanskom kodeksu oblačenja za žene: duga haljina dugih rukava i bez dekoltea. Oslobađam je tkanine u području reproduktivnih organa materijalizovanjem negativa forme krsta, a rezultat je univerzalna uniforma „prostitutke“ i „poštene žene potčinjene porodici“.
„Usnila je dubok sanak“ je izvorna srpska pjesma koja govori iz pozicije mlade žene o planu obnavljanja nacije reprodukcijom.