Steven Cohen's enlightenment
In the beginning of february 2009 IDeA and Campo jointly organised a weeklong project The Document as Performance - The Performance as Document #1. The third evening consisted among other things of a screening of Steven Cohen's The Chandelier Project (2001-2002). The video shows Cohen performing like a human chandelier in a squatter camp in Newtown, Johannesburg. Cohen can be seen walking (or dancing) around on high heeled shoes, wearing a corset like structure that holds a chandelier. During the performance the (probably illegal) squatter camp is being deconstructed by workmen in orange overalls. (Deconstructed is probably not a very accurate word since the houses are made of all kinds of leftover materials.) Of course Cohen's appearance stirs the inhabitants' emotions. Some see him as some kind of angelic appearance while for others he is nothing more but a queer object of lust. During his talk Cohen described his practice as a way to make evident what people tend to invisibilize. The chandelier thus sheds light on what is actually already clearly visible, although we often refuse to see it.
"If people encountering my work wonder about what they see, I am happier than if they conclude something - I would rather be the cause of wonder than of conclusion. The value of my work is more in it being a speculum than a suture." (Steven Cohen)
>the chandelier project photo credits: Steven Chohen