06 mins Contemporary Video Performance Art
Brussels
2007
Meera George
‘Some were fed dry unhulled rice that punctured their windpipes, or were made to swallow poisonous powdered fertilizer. Others were smothered with a wet towel, strangled or allowed to starve to death or just simply left in a dust bin on the street’- extract from Disappearing daughters by Gita Aravamudam.
The performance art video shows an image of an open sketch book with drawings of carnivorous plants. On careful observation, you notice movement inside the plant structure, like those of a foetus lying inside the mother’s womb. Nepenthes, a species of carnivorous plants known for its large pitcher or sack shaped leaves, characteristically lure, trap and destroy their prey that fall as innocent victims. Through this art performance I have inforporated the organic shape, form and structure of the plant to resemble the ravaged womb. They appear as a safe haven, to nurture and protect the foetus, but are in actual fact- a death trap.