The artist calls this experience “Museumification of human shells”. For 2.5 hours, Weld Queen performed while remaining still as a museum exhibit next to her costume.
The performer examines a “double separation” experience throughout this act. The task is to find “the true oneself” in the reality constructed by the positions — a social role, a body, and consciousness. The royal dress of Weld Queen, made especially for the performance “Monarchy,” serves as a representation of the social rank. We are cut off from social self-determination by the act of exposure, which develops into the initial stage of alienation. The move from material reality to the transcendental experience of the inner self is referred to as the second stage of estrangement (performative). The body of the artist is intentionally transformed into an object of external observation.
Radical body experience allows you to reach the awareness of your pure identity, which does not depend on your outer shells (the gender, the age, the profession, the social status, etc.).
January 28, 2019
All-Russian Decorative Art Museum.
Moscow
