VALIE EXPORT "Delta. Ein Stück, 1976"

Location: PIAC, Herengracht 270, Amsterdam. ‘A drama about the ongoing problems affecting a heterosexual couple relationship. The history of women being overshadowed by the world of men is expressed by the symbolism of shoulders and hands, as a historic body language. The marital yoke is imposed on the woman’s shoulders; the involuntary cameraderie has a demoralizing effect and oppresses her. This theme is represented by a male shoulder made of plaster which is used for a number of symbolic gestures. The symbols are derived from a large number of famous paintings and written studies. In a series of gestures performed by a second plaster shoulder before a mirror, the link between marital responsibility and repression is excluded. The gestural language in the mirror is an attempt to seek contact with yourself, to make yourself visible to yourself, not to stand only beside or behind ones partner. It is an attempt to win the freedom to decide, an emancipation of historical solidarity, as expressed by the symbol of the shoulders (shoulder to shoulder). The embrace means both being surrounded by the atmosphere of the man, and being cut off. The two legs are bound together with a black rubber band. Tension, which constrains motion, impedes walking, just as Chinese women had difficulty in walking; followed by the conquest of tension. The face, including lips and eyelids, is covered with charcoal dust; love has been muted, there is loss and deprivation of the power of speech. The facial features with which one expresses oneself are masked and lifeless. Charcoal: the residue of fire.’ (VALIE EXPORT , Feministische Kunst Internationaal, Amsterdam (Foundation De Appel) 1978, p. 9.)