one small seed » Switzerland | one small seed

Completely Naked Woman Attends Art Basel in High Heels

one small seed — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 13:48:34 +0000

German performance artist and psychologist Milo Moiré tried to attend Art Basel — which happens every year where the borders of Switzerland, Germany, and France meet — completely naked. With just the words of clothing items written on the appropriate body parts, she walks down a residential street, gets on a train and then queues for a ticket until a security guard tells her to put her clothes on. What was she thinking?

According to Moiré’s blog, the naked performance is called ‘The Script System’ and is inspired by the script theory of cognitive psychology. It deals with the stereotypical course of events we live by everyday that are ever-recurring. She wanted to challenge this blindness to our surroundings because she says that — especially when we’re on our daily trip to work — we often function without actively perceiving our surroundings. So, the idea was to make the invisible visible to create freedom of thought.

What do you think? Is this art? Similar to Deborah de Robertis flashing her vagina under the ‘The Origin of the World’ at the Musée D’Orsay in Paris, the question of provocation arises. Is this a loud scream for attention or conceptual art? Feel free to comment below or tweet us at @onesmallseedSA.

For more provocative performance art, click here for Deborah de Robertis’ Vagina Activism on one small seed.

It’s Not Happening Here. But It Is Happening Now

christine hogg — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 08:38:02 +0000

Living in what we call ‘the first world’, it’s easy to forget that the majority of humanity might be in deep distress when we grumpily wait for the make-up-ad-covered bus to the much-hated ‘daily drill’ in the morning. That’s why Amnesty International launched an awareness campaign in Switzerland to sensitize citizens to the human rights violations happening around the world.

Image: Amnesty International

Namsa Leuba

one small seed — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:40:52 +0000

African-European photographer Namsa Leuba’s curiosity with African identity within the Western world has been a recurrent theme in her work stemming from her racially mixed upbringing in Switzerland. In her latest photographic series titled “YaKalaBen”, Leuba traveled to Guinea Conakry where she photographed local subjects wearing bizarre tribal artifacts and attire. In each portrait the Swiss is inspired by the construction and deconstruction of the human body as part of ceremonial rituals.

image : namsaleuba.com

Some of the subjects resemble voodoo dolls covered in ritualistic artifacts, common to the cosmology of the Guineans. Explicit scenes of exorcism, twisted bodily figures and animal slaughter is strikingly captured in a dusty African setting. According to Leuba the ritualistic series is part of a whole “symbolic order” and is meant to fit into the aesthetic of Westerners’ taste.

image : namsaleuba.com

The Western gaze that focuses on Eurocentric points of view upon an African society is controversially apparent in these images, which make them even more shocking, not only for the Guineans who were said to be afraid and felt exploited by Leuba’s “practices” but also Europeans who might interpret the images as savage. In one of the photographs a tribal costume is mockingly made from American flags.

image : namsaleuba.com

In a globalised and technology driven world that is characteristically Western, there tends to be in a constant battle with the forgotten and traditional cultures that still manage to survive in underdeveloped places like Guinea. For us who might be blissfully unaware of these cultural divides can appreciate Leuba’s attempt in creating something that is raw and thought provoking.With “YaKalaBen” Leuba invite us behind her lens to give us a glimpse of the ancient and fascinating traditions of a strange and colourful Guinean tribe.

Words: Talita Calitz

Sources: namsaleuba.com, lostateminor.com

images: namsaleuba.com