The instructions were specific: works that consider a box format, that suggest a transition outward from this object, and, above all, that in some way address the idea of the womb. It was a challenge that put me in conflict—the idea of the womb inevitably referred me back to the notion of genitals, of parenthood, of reproduction, of sex, of biological and social roles. I felt uneasy. Since childhood I carried an implicit burden of having to respond, as a boy (a “man”), to what I was supposed to be, and I always assumed myself to be deficient. Who am I in relation to the womb?
I remembered a piece I made years ago—an animation that suggested my reproductive fluid as waste (a “waste of a man,” as people like me are called) and reflected my strange way of conceiving myself as subject/gender. I am very feminine in many ways, maternal even. I imagined my genitals as a kind of organ that penetrates itself, and the topological figure of the Klein bottle felt closest to that idea (Björk’s song Isobel resonated with me more than ever). So I modeled an altered, organic version of a Klein bottle for this proposal, as a symbol of reconciliation with what for years I had imagined about myself under the weight of my bullies.
Comission for colective exhibition: ¿Qué pasa sí regresamos a un lugar común?
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@tlaxcalatres
may, 2024