THE WALL OF PAIN
This project is called “The Wall of Pain”. It expresses the pain that every human experiences during their life. This wall consists of limitations integrated into our consciousness which prevents us from being what we really are, taking as a guideline the expectations of the society, the family, and friends. The beliefs of how things should be are imputed by the surrounding environment - at home, at school, on TV, in fairytales -. All those expectations on what girl/boy/woman/man should be like and what life is. We define it “mentality”, “education”, but at the end it’s what exactly puts us into a cage or at borders; what teaches us to not trust ourselves, our feelings, to put tags - what it’s good and what it’s bad.
I believe that every person has limitless possibilities and is like water in cold winter - all those inputs are freezing us like ice. When we realize it - by facing and over passing the wall of pain - we can melt and go back to our original liquid state, like water or decide to take any form we want. If we want to.
This project consists of 3 parts:
Facing the wall of pain;
Living the wall of pain;
Liberation from the wall of pain.
At the moment, I would like to focus and present the first part of the project: “Facing the wall of pain”. The black walls will be filled up with limiting phrases which were integrated in our blood and subconsciousness. During this phase, we see what is preventing us to be easy, simple, happy, relaxed, free. We realize that all those abusive, rough, aggressive, humiliating, suppressing experiences and expectations made us believe that we are ice instead of water.
When we are in a quiet state (that can also be defined “bored”) we can feel that gap between the real me and imputed me. This “cage” bothers us. It creates tension, frustration, dissatisfaction. We then feel the need to do something in order to go over it, to feel better and what we rely on are “pain-killers” such as yoga, drugs, religion, therapy, meditation, alcohol, TV, social media, we can get to even hurt someone else to let them feel at least part of our pain in order not to feel alone anymore.
Everything with one aim only: to unconsciously try to get rid of that inner pain - the wall of pain that we do not want to face.
What I’d like to transmit to all of the attendees today is to experience their wall of pain in intimacy, to recognize in a one-to-one environment their pain, express it and share it on a common wall.
Technical part of the project “Facing the wall of pain”
The main goal of this project is to create an environment that could provoke the visitors to feel their own wall of pain, in an intimate way and in connection with art.
The space:
The room: it can fit 15 paintings - 50x70cm - with a distance of minimum 2 meters between each of them. Next to each painting, there is a chair for the model (a woman) who is connected with the painting by a medical tube that transfers the limiting phrases reported on the paintings directly to into her veins, to fuse with her blood. The room is completely dark.
The light: on the top of each painting there is a light direct to it and to the model. The light can be switched on by a big button placed on the floor and marked either with fluorescent color or with a low light that guides visitors. These can push the button to see the painting and the woman, one by one.
The wall: a board on wall full size, in black color in which visitors can share their pain in an intimate environment, by using fluorescent markers. This wall is removable and can be exhibited later on as a unique piece of art.
The paintings: 15 paintings reporting limiting phrases
The mummy: in the central part of the room is located a human mummy bounded with stripes with limiting phrases on them. It aims to represent the human being who doesn’t live their real life as they want. It’s like being dead.
