Free art piece #53
This one is called “Right next to my essence”.
In this performative art piece, the artist is to drag an exact wax-made replica of herself at all times. The replica is meant to represent her “essence”. She is to order coffee in cafes with her replica next to her and look at the statue before choosing a skinny almond milk decaffeinated latte. When asked “what is this?’, the artist is to answer “this is my essence”.
She is to sit and write or read in a cafe with her essence standing next to her. Once the neighborhood gets used to the presence of the artist’s essence, the artist is to pick some days where she goes out without her essence. When asked “where is your essence?”, she is to answer “I am in my essence today”.
This piece is meant to capture the eerie feeling one perceives when another person is not being genuine or authentic. In these unfortunate instances, there is a sense that the other’s real nature and authentic self are disembodied. It is as if they are floating next to the person, out of reach. The artist is to empathize with this condition: Often people operating at a distance from their essence have been called “insecure”, “constantly distracted” or “not grounded”. They might even be advised to “meditate”, “go on a vipassana retreat” or “get a life coach”.
This piece is also meant as a tongue-in-cheek reminder that there is no such thing as an “essence”. That it’s a handy personification of an abstraction woven out of loose spiritual concepts. People are always “in their essence”, they are simply going through a rough patch sometimes and might come across as distracted and, hence, inauthentic, or lacking genuineness.
