HOW TO BE BEAUTIFUL
first performed on
June 15, 2011
Piazza San Francesco, Bologna, Italy; .NO Gallery, New York, NY
performed twice in 2011
VALENTINA MEDDA
New York, NY / Bologna, Italy
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valentinamedda.com
HOW TO BE BEAUTIFUL
VALENTINA MEDDA
“How to Be Beautiful” is a series of urban art interventions that deals with a certain idea of femininity and the possibility to find a new concept of beauty. As a woman, I feel I’m constantly asked to fit a role, to match a precise idea of womanhood, to embody few external expectations about how to be, to appear, to behave. A main model is violently imposed by this society through advertising, education, religion, and mainstream culture. Willing to escape the model offered to me by this society, I constantly struggle to find my own femininity, freeing myself from gender stereotypes and chauvinist desires. I wonder if it’s possible to change the external environment instead of changing ourselves to fit it.
During my unannounced performance, I painted small wild plants and weeds with red nail polish, slowly transforming the environment in a seemingly colored and pleasant space. However, what seems innocent and playful soon becomes a slightly cruel act of killing part of the nature, raising questions about the concept of beauty and the contemporary aesthetic obsession.
Every time I do this performance, I’ll be wearing the same elegant outfit: a white dress, high heels. This augments my discomfort during the performances. I will define an area to color entirely. I will not show the documentation of the performance, but only its final result, therefore transforming my action in an installation/photographic project.