Who does this object imagine YOU to be?

This washed out greying thing has become almost part of you — you wear it all the time — even in bed. It’s private and perhaps I should not be talking about it. Is it an insult to you that I show it to others. Without your permission?

You knew, somehow, right from the moment you asked for it that it had a strange and complicated status. You were ambivalent. For now you just want a bra. You’re going to secondary school. Little do you know how intertwined this object is with the status of a women, and changing views and expectations of the female body.

Containing and shaping, freeing, controlling, sexualising, supporting, covering restraining, revealing, modifying? A contradiction. Be yourself. Don’t be Yourself. It speaks about making your unknown known. Mediating and shaping your expectation and relationship with your own body. A capitalised space.

You don’t want to hear anymore my thoughts about the cultures in which women’s bodies exist and are created. My presumptions. How I experience myself in relief — in the reflection of this object. Or about my fears and wishes to protect you. I know. And so I must keep this to myself for now.

I’m working with Wellcome Trust at the moment as part of their Ideas Hub exploring issues around Power, Mental Health and Ownership. This piece was written as part of an exploration of the Medicine Man Exhibition and the biographies of object.

#WellcomeTrust #IdeasHub #objects #art #power @wellcometrust