UGLY GIRL / Living Art *
_public interventions (films)
* Living Art is a common project of Steven Cohen and Elu Kieser which consists of a series of provocative public interventions in which they use their bodies (and sometimes those of others) to create a “living art” which mixes sculpture, dance and cross-dressing . These pieces include DOG, FAGGOT, JEW and UGLY GIRL.
© John Hodgkiss
Ugly girl developed out of Princess Menorah’s costumes. A component of Living art, it presents a critical insight into a marginal “type”. Its public interventions included going to buy a ticket for a rugby match at Loftus Versveld stadium in Pretoria, as well as attendance at the Durban July horse race. Ugly girl’s costume plays with drag.
UGLY GIRL RUGBY
MATCH TEST
Loftus Versveld stadium, Pretoria
Original format : color video / 4:3
Filmé par Amir Mizrach
Single Channel HD Video
20 juin 1998
2 min 48 sec
Video extracts available on the “desktop” version
Original format : color video / 4:3
Filmé par Amir Mizrach
Single Channel HD Video
20 juin 1998
2 min 48 sec
UGLY GIRL FASHION
FASHION STAKES
GREYVILLE – DURBAN
At the Durban July, her ensemble is spattered with blood, which, Cohen commented, was “inspired by street violence”.
Original format : color video / 4:3
Filmé par : Innocent
Single Channel HD Video
4 juillet 1998
2 min 47 sec
Video extracts available on the “desktop” version
Original format : color video / 4:3
Filmé par : Innocent
Single Channel HD Video
4 juillet 1998
2 min 47 sec
UGLY GIRL
PIECES OF YOU version
DURBAN ART GALLERY
In the original “on stage” gallery performance, Pieces of you, blood issued from Ugly girl’s mouth and anus, and an image of a healthy, ejaculating penis, alongside an image of a little girl with the premature ageing disease progeria, putting on lipstick, was projected as a backdrop, challenging aesthetic values: “Most people would see the penis as ugly and the sick child as sweet,” said Cohen.
Original format : color video / 4:3
Filmé par Janine Tilley & Belinda Blignaut
Single Channel HD Video
juillet 1998
1 min 02 sec
Video extracts available on the “desktop” version
Original format : color video / 4:3
Filmé par Janine Tilley & Belinda Blignaut
Single Channel HD Video
juillet 1998
1 min 02 sec
STEVEN COHEN COMPANY
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Samuel Mateu
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