Sabina Kaluza. Art and (post)memory

THE FEMALE MEMORY
 

“If I can’t dance, then that’s not my revolution.” These words have been ascribed to Emma Goldman, an early 20th century anarchist, feminist political activist and writer. However, they could just as easily serve as a motto for Sabina Kaluza’s work. In “impetus” (Figs. 12.1–12 . ), we see a bird’s eye view of a dancing woman. The view from above creates an even more dynamic impression of the silhouette and gestures of the dancer than if we were to stand opposite her at eye level. Here, Kaluza confronts us with a ritual that stands for freedom, the joy of living and vitality, as well as for the detachment from the passive roles in society that are so often assigned to women. We can only imagine the music to which the figure is dancing, yet our mirror neurons cause the dancer and her poses to reverberate strongly in our bodies. According to the US researcher Barbara Montero[4], when other people dance, it has an impact on us, even when we ourselves remain stationary: their dance movements “resonate” in our bodies and generate not only a visual, but also a kinaesthetic response. As soon as we feel this “resonance”, we begin to interpret the movements and question the meaning of the individual gestures. In the case of Sabina Kaluza’s twelve-part image cycle “impetus”, these movements and gestures highlight dance as a search for a release from the roles in society that are traditionally attributed to women.

RITUAL AND UNITY
 

A similar concept can be seen in “einheit” (“unity”) (Figs. 13 . , 18 . ). It also shows a bird’s eye view of a woman, this time in a circular format, who appears to be immersed in her dance like a dervish in a trance. While we can look at her face, we are unable to connect with her, since she is fully absorbed with her inner world, as is shown by her closed eyes and her facial expression, in which we see ecstasy, self-reflection and fulfilment all at the same time. The dancer is at one with herself, her gestures and the world as a whole. Everything around her seems to be turning, and her figure creates the impression that she is able to defy gravity. She is reminiscent of the light-footed, multi-armed goddess Kali, who is able to kill demons with each one of her many arms (Fig. 14 . ).

By contrast, the installation “reigen” (“roundelay”) (Figs. 15 . , 16 . ) shows a woman’s bare feet, which – as with a ballerina – are dancing on the tips of their toes. The glass panel underneath splits under the pressure of these feet. Centrifugal cracks appear on the surface, which create a highly aesthetic, yet also hazardous ornament. In this way, Kaluza depicts the risk of being injured by “revolution through dance”. However, the dancer does not leave the stage; she remains in place, firmly convinced that women have no choice but to rebel against social precepts and prohibitions, whatever the cost.

BODY – TRANSFORMATION – POWER
 

“3,33″” (Figs. 17 . , 18 . ) relates to a period of time that we perceive as the present. It shows a transparent-looking, naked female double figure, whose gestures could also be interpreted as being dance. The figures, which appear almost glass-like, seem to be surrounded by deep water or blue air. They float with disconcerting lightness in a space that cannot be more clearly discerned, creating the impression that they are moving towards us – actively and free of any context. At the point at which the two figures overlap, a vagina-like form is created which evokes the power of femininity. Similar forms can also be seen in an earlier group of photographs by the artist, entitled “sinus animi” (Figs. 19 . , 20.1–10 . ). In these works, Kaluza considers ways of portraying the female body that deviate from an androcentric perspective. The unfocused photographs combine smooth, tender human skin with a typical meadow fauna that simultaneously covers and exposes the body, creating a form of land(scape).

This female body and the smooth skin age, however. This is a process that in time renders women “invisible” and which places them outside the sphere of interest of a society that continues to yearn for eternal youth an unblemished beauty. In her video works (Fig. 27 . )) – “maske” (“mask”) (video 1), “reduktion” (“reduction) (video 2) and “gegen die zeit” (“against time”) (video 3) – the artist uses various ways of questioning the (im)possibility of showing a person’s true face, the act of being reduced to those areas of the body that are desired and considered sexy, as well as the transient nature of beauty and the unremitting progress of time.