Objects with Orifices
Exploration of the, perhaps overly obvious, Freudian dimensions of the category Objects with Orifices is a direction into which—for better or for worse—the curators are slipping. In Freudian terms, there are both male and female subtexts associated with each of the objects in this category. This is what happens when one looks at objects as a whole—at a distance.
Seen in the proper light, these are the dualities of any artifact. Yet here nothing is latent. The holes in these artifacts all make direct reference to the interior—in many cases the dark unknown. The really scary interior that all things, including each one of us, possess. And yet, for each object's cavity, there is a corresponding long, heavy, truncheon-shape. Look around you. There are dichotamies here.
As far as our our bodies are concerned, when seen as artifacts themselves, our interior becomes the exterior, through the x-ray. Think of Hans Castorp and his tubercular cousin, Joachim Ziessmen in Mann’s novel, The Magic Mountain, (1924). In the examination room they experiment with an early x-ray machine, holding their hands up to view. Molecular structure now enters the picture, as dna research becomes commonplace and a long, endlessly turning spiral of molecules comes into focus. Even the particles that make up the atoms of our world and universe have now been made visible. Does this mean that the universe has yeilded up its mysteries, and that there are no more secrets out there? We think not.
The Specimens
- Themes contained in the descriptive matter, above, as well as the sub-group "Objects with Orifices" itself, afforded the grateful recognition of the Robert Fleming Museum, Janie Cohen and Pascal Spengeman.
