Viewers are invited to palm this object, judging its shape, use and name merely by stereognosis, the ability to identify an object by tactile manipulation. Known to originate from the female of the human species, it is approximately the size of a raisin, and is shrivelled in a similar way, implying desiccation.
Its original form is vast as the sky, with the ability to adopt any colour or shape. This form has not been seen widely since before recorded time, though there have been some sightings in the modern world – in the 1960s during the “Bra Burning” movement, in the 1990s with the pop band The Spice Girls, and latterly with such role models as Malala Yousafzai.
As you feel it, can you discern how it has been made to shrink to contain its potential, to ward off the male gaze? Can you feel the way that this shrinkage has changed the composition of this piece so fundamentally that it might never regain its lost ability?
How do you, as the viewer, interact with his object? Is there:
- an urge to crush it further? To eat it, as you might a raisin, to consume the energy and vitality within it for yourself?
- Or, do you feel the need to nurture this dormant object, find the right conditions to encourage its flourishing?
Optional survey question: Could you indicate (a) or (b), and indicate your sex, three words to describe “woman”, and your security in your sense of self?
Sumitra writes in Naarm/Melbourne. She travelled through many spaces to get there and writes to make sense of her experiences. She’ll be the one in the kitchen making chai (where’s your cardamom?). She works in mental health. You can find her and her other publication credits on twitter: @pleomorphic2