re-c(O)unting I. self-exploring bodies by pamela varela

re-c(O)unting I. self-exploring bodies

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"re-c(O)unting I. self-exploring bodies, stories, laboratories" is an artistic-scientific research questioning how we can transform the production of knowledge; it is an empowering journey from the transgenerational trauma our lands and bodies store. Deconstructing the binarisms between nature-technology, science-spirituality, male-female, we zoom out and into the colonial history between Europe and Latin America and link it to the colonial approach medicine has had on female-assigned bodies (i.e. the fallopian tubes are named after Gabriele Falloppio and Colombia after Christopher Colombus). Delving into our deepest insides, we hack our way into the technoscientific field to address its violent approach, while using it as a tool of reclaiming to know our bodies and their stories. The work is a collaboration between ella hebendanz (DE) and pamela varela (MX). It was born as an attempt to investigate the link between our roots and create decolonial lines of exchange. The scientific collaboration took place with Joris Koene (NL), a biologist researching hermaphroditic snails, which inspired us to follow the story of Hermaphroditus—the child of Hermes and Aphrodite—a being with both female and male attributes who metaphorically brought to the work the queerifying of binarisms it portrays. The soundscape was created by Concepción Huerta (MX). The work is both a film and a performance. What you can see here is a snippet of the film where we self-explore our cervix using a speculum, followed by computer-generated spiral images. The film stands on its own, while the performance is a live reenactment of the story-line through the means of our bodies. It is a lecture performance in which we live-mix excerpts of the film with spoken word, live camera footage, performative actions, and interactions with organic matter on stage. The visual results are being projected on a screen behind us. We are accompanied by Concepción Huerta, who mixes the soundscape live.

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documentary film
experimental film
performance art
media performance
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