Breaking Point
2018
Performance
2018
Performance
Breaking Point is a live performance, conceived by the artist Naomi Even-Aberle and executed with the collaboration of Kevin Gilmore and Tom Jessen. Staged during the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA Visual Art Winter Residency in Montpelier, Vermont in 2018.
Even-Aberle strategically engages successful female artists, curators, writers, and women in leadership positions, inviting them to contribute sexist phrases and comments they've encountered in their professional journeys. The handwritten transcriptions of these demeaning phrases on the boards form a visual and tangible representation of the psychological weight carried by these women. This deliberate choice underscores the lasting impact of language and highlights the enduring psychological toll of systemic sexism on women.
As Even-Aberle speaks these derogatory comments aloud during the performance, she consciously immerses herself in the psychological space of embodying sexism. This transformative act not only unveils the emotional strain associated with such language but also places the audience in a contemplative position, prompting reflections on the enduring psychological impact of gender-based discrimination.
The physicality of breaking through the boards becomes a symbolic manifestation of reclaiming agency and overcoming the psychological breaking point. Even-Aberle's gesture is a powerful commentary on the resilience and agency of women inviting viewers to grapple with the psychological dimensions of sexism and confront the implicit biases that persist.
Even-Aberle strategically engages successful female artists, curators, writers, and women in leadership positions, inviting them to contribute sexist phrases and comments they've encountered in their professional journeys. The handwritten transcriptions of these demeaning phrases on the boards form a visual and tangible representation of the psychological weight carried by these women. This deliberate choice underscores the lasting impact of language and highlights the enduring psychological toll of systemic sexism on women.
As Even-Aberle speaks these derogatory comments aloud during the performance, she consciously immerses herself in the psychological space of embodying sexism. This transformative act not only unveils the emotional strain associated with such language but also places the audience in a contemplative position, prompting reflections on the enduring psychological impact of gender-based discrimination.
The physicality of breaking through the boards becomes a symbolic manifestation of reclaiming agency and overcoming the psychological breaking point. Even-Aberle's gesture is a powerful commentary on the resilience and agency of women inviting viewers to grapple with the psychological dimensions of sexism and confront the implicit biases that persist.