(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-XIVEFp-8)

DISENCHANTMENT II 

Live performance with video recording I am searching for an armor. Which armor will protect me and make me ready for the battles i am called upon to give every day? How am i to defend myself against that which affects me, hurts me, threatens me that which I carry with me since I was an child, innocent, yet clearly burdened after all? Occasionally my armor is a mask, a misleading cover, deceptive disguise for reasons demanded of me, but have nothing to do with my truth. I leave my body exposed, helpless from the deafening pain that shudders me, and harmful elements infiltrate it. From time to time I seek healing. From time to time I can be healed. But even my recovery is up to others to decide… At times I feel proud for my sophistication, that’s my intangible armor, the aura that protects me… My work is about a woman, a woman who is associated with all women. My woman carries an almost naked truth. She sits regally, beautiful and dominant in her space, virtually untouched by life experiences, by her gods and demons. I am not merely her observer, I am her intruder. I will mess her up, threaten her, invade and humiliate her, I will try her as if I were a god or a demon, and she will suffer as if she were Jesus. For which salvation, though? Will someone bring salvation? First i will revamp you a little, spruce you up, I put some makeup on you, do your nails and deck you in your wedding gown, the dress you wear so you can be marveled, the dress which is a symbol of your feminine nature, the dress that defines you… I will turn it into torment for you, because I am life and life is tough and unfair. Battles are not won by beauty… Not totally at least. I am humiliating you, hurting you, your wedding gown becomes a knot tied around your neck, tears, blood. I wound you, but at the same time I heal you. I cover your injured limbs with bandages. I bind you with commands, constrain you, wreck the tools of your vanity, I don’t want you to look pretty any longer. I want you to hush! We are done now! On the floor are some objects ( symbolizing your outlets, if any) and they ask the viewers to take a stance. Will they do something to help you win the battle? Or will they let you be defeated? Unless you truly are free, anyway… The following items will be available to the viewers: post-it notes, scissors, nox-toxic paints and brushes, red crayons, flowers, a bucket with water and chamomile tea, a towel next to the bucket. Concept, art direction and coordination: Christina Foitou Performance: Konstantina Bibou Texts: Charoula Syllaiou, Christina Foitou Text editing: Savvas Chalkidis Photographic material: Alice Chiotaki, Nadia Ifanti, Kostas Moschos