7. "Serie KS-4" by Thomas Hirschhorn

 

1. Artist: Thomas Hirschhorn

2. Title: Serie KS-4

3. Medium: Cut-and-pasted printed paper with a felt-tip pen, ballpoint pen, and pressure-sensitive tape on paper wrapped in synthetic polymer sheet

4. Size: 14 x 17 3/4"

5. Discussion: The idealized female body, and the consumption of media surrounding that image, has been the subject of harassment that manifests in many different forms. Some harassment is literal; many, if not most, women have experienced a form of sexual, verbal, or emotional abuse surrounding their bodies. While other, more subtle, effects also exist behind idealized beauty. Especially in younger women and the recent surge in social media platforms and users, women are losing themselves in order to fit the mold they think makes them more beautiful. Both involve women being robbed of some piece of them involuntarily. Forcing society and allowing men to "take, take, take" as we see written in this image. The dismembered body parts and black ink dripping down the page reminds me of the literal dismembering of one's self and bleeding to fit into the mold of beauty.