“Family Poison”
Duration: 3 hours, 2003
Performed:June 27th, 2003
Exhibition:Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
Curator: Marina Abramovic, René Block
“Family poison“ was sponsored by Christian Dior
Since some time I have been working a lot with family structure and what it actually means in our society today... If it has any sense of existing at all... Through this process of non stop research, I have come to several conclusions, and some of them can be seen in a positive way.
To start
with, I believe that each family must have a center, a kind of representative, willing to guide the rest of the components, and beeing able to do so as well. This center does not have to be necesserily a man, a woman, or a child... Each family associates to one specific exponent of those listed just before... Weather it be a man, a woman, or a child.
Second; the leading role in the family is the figure that, more then others, beholds in itself the essence of the family taken in consideration, the figure that functions as a verging point to all the other elements and that can understand them without having to talk too much, or at all. That is to say, a person who can afford to listen and constantly analyse the different variations of the comportamental attitudes of the single components, and be ready to stand for them in any moment of need, weather or not be these components capable of expressing their problems, troubles or just pure joy and happyness. That is why it needn't necesserily be a grown up person. Children are indeed very good listeners most of the time.
Third; the structure I would like to analyse has nothing to do with the economical aspect of the family nucleus. I am not entering that sphere, not because I would consider it of irrellevant importance, but because I do not wish to proceed in this direction. Economics inflict a lot in family matters but are not subject of my motivation for the time being.
Fourth; Going deeper in the complex infrastructure of a family, one can but only become a part of it, if analysing an alien family, or open up Pandora's box, if analysing his or her own one. Pandora's box will be opened in case a family has had pressure from inside or outside. The presure causes at times, slow, and, at times, fast increesing secrets, lies and therefor many missunderstanding as well. A family, if a situation of an open Pandora box occures, is like a poison that smells sweet but causes headaches if smelled too long and death if taken little by little, but constantly.
Many things must be cleared in that case and no options can be spared. One has to take the time, biggest luxury in the world, and learn to deal with the poison, with it's smell and profusion... Because when you have once smelled it, it will leave a trace forever, and there will be no more place for fake hopes of pure reconciliation. One will then have to learn to live with the scars and will never forget, but perhaps, hopefully, make the best out of the relicts left in the end. I wish to materialize this frightening situation in exactly that moment when the tension has come to unberable limits and truth is just about to explode to the surface...
Idea:
The idea is having a limited space, a small room, which can be totally closed, if necessary. In the space I will be sitting on a "Hocker" chair, behind me, a video projection of my family... Next to me, in a special place, part, of the room, will be a glass vitrine in which all of the precious bottles of "Poison" would be sealed in. The vitrine is full of all the different variations of the famous luxurious and endlessly sensual parfum from Christian Dior: "POISON". Nobody from the public will be able to touch any of the bottles, because they would be closed from all sides by the glass partitions of the vitrine holder. I will be the only one having a key to the vitrine, coming to it from time to time and taking another type of bottle out... And next to me a bottle of Esprit de Parfum, on the floor, open, and poured out filling the entire space with it's overwellming scent.I will have one more bottle, in my hand, this one would be closed. I would open it and slowly parfume myself during the entire process of the performance. On the video projection will be my father and mother. Both will be looking straight into the camera (that is to say, to me), still and silent. I will be able to turn around while sitting on the hocker, so most of the time I will be facing them two while parfuming myself and then I would from time to time probably turn to the viewers as well.The sweet scent should contrast the fact that the family is living a tense situation, where the truth, with all it brings, is just about to come out and bring with it the consequences of a long process of past silence, fear and loss. So, fondamentally, POISON is a luxury, permitting the family to finally realise where it is going to and that things have to get cleared. The smell of the Parfum will get more and more intense during the duration of the piece, and as the scent blossoms, it gets stronger and at some point will become unberable. In that moment the escalation comes to the climax and the process of "regeneration" of the family nucleus, and it's structure, starts taking place... But where the limit of standing the ever more growing scent is, stays a mistery... It can in any moment happen and yet could be beared forever...