Collection for Cunt Enlargement
Installation: clothing line (synthetic hair and textile), laser cut text in textile, mirrors, sound and video projection.
The installation Collection for Cunt Enlargement uses enlargement in contrast to the diminution of the cunt that takes place linguistically, through social constructions, misinformation and myths to instead claim space. As a volume instead of a hole or a negative. The cunt ought to be small, discreet, tight and should not be seen or smell.
“Cunt” (“Fitta” in swedish) is frequently used as a curse word and therefore I have intended to reclaim it as a positively charged word.
Myths that circuits around that the cunt needs to be cleaned and changed allows for unnecessary activities like douching the vagina. It is claimed to prevent pregnancy while in fact it interferes with the pH balance and increases the risk of getting diseases.
The word shame is also embedded in the word for labia in several languages.
Shame counteracts reliable facts and misleads people to learn correct basic anatomy such as not knowing the difference between the vagina and the vulva or knowing that the urethra is not located in the vagina.
Cosmetic surgery of the vagina has increased in recent times, where the labia and the clitoral hood are usually reduced. When performing female genital mutilation (FGM) type II or excision the labia minora and the clitoral glans are completely removed. FGM is a violation of human rights and a tradition that has existed in all parts of the world and is not tied to any specific religion. The differences between FGM and cosmetic surgery do not seem that large.
The making through the body is in focus in my work, a bodily process that starts in the material whose properties create the conditions that I interact responsively with.
The body possesses memory and knowledge.
In Collection for Cunt Enlargement I have been sewing with synthetic hair. It easily tangles and therefore I decided to work with that property and reinforce it rather than to force the material in another direction.
Textile has been an important material in my later works due to its inherently feminine and bodily connotations. My surgical scars from a breast reduction makes me feel like textile. For me, sewing has also had the significance of healing and repairing during the process.
@kimzonite
