Compart Mentalize

 

1990

 

Compart Mentalize presents a taxonomic cabinet displaying urns that are fused with anatomical forms and forms of illness. One side of the cabinet displays parts of the human body, mapped out from head to foot. The other side presents a range of bodily mutations, lesions and protrusions that convey a sense of displacement and disease. These anomalies are based on bodily malfunctions documented by medical practice. It is within the purview of malfunction that Compart Mentalize functions. The functional capacity of the ceramic urns (to carry substances, such as liquid) juxtaposed with the dysfunctional external placement (displacement) of blood (a life fluid that continues to darken with age) sets up a tension that, like the two sides of each urn, convey the experience of living in our bodies.

 

 


 


media: earthenware, blood, pigment, wax, wood
dimensions: 4″ W x 8′ H x 2′ D
Compart Mentalize was first shown at Goethe Institute, Toronto, curated by Doina Popescu.