Kiki Smith
- Joséphine Hengstwerth
- Mar 24, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 9, 2020
Pee body, (1992)
Untitled (train), (1993)
Tale, (1992)
Kiki Smith was born in Germany to American parents, with her father being a minimalist sculptor and her mother an actress and opera singer. Together with other relevant female artist like Barbara Kruger, Kara Walker and Cindy Sherman Kiki Smith formed the end of the second wave of Feminist Art by exploring social, cultural and political roles of women. She focuses on the female body by depicting it in detail and with disturbing imagery, referencing folklore, mythology and her catholic upbringing. The body is what ultimately is shared by everyone dismissing shape, race and culture. Her work is very much about being a body and not merely having one. Her craft includes books, paintings, sculpture, prints and collaborations with other artists.
Three of Smith’s very controversial sculptures are figures loosing control of bodily processes like urinating, menstruation and defecating: “pee body”, 1992/ “Untitled (train)”, 1993 and “tale”, 1992. Those body fluids are all differently controllable, e.g. the body cannot control blood flood whereas the release of urine is controllable to an extend but not ultimately. “In part the work was about ‘embracing the shame of the out of control body’, but it also challenged the idea that the women’s body was merely the subject of the male gaze.” (https://fineartmultiple.com/blog/kiki-smith-human-body/). In the history of art the female body has merely been depicted by male artists and with her work Kiki Smith claims back this right but also showing the bodies out of control of their body functions; so who is in control after all?. Thinking about abjection and and Julia Kristeva’s essay called “powers of horror”, there is something very uncanny of bodily fluids leaving someone’s body. For instance there is the example of spitting in a glass and drinking your own saliva afterwards. The spit doesn’t seem disgusting while it is still in the mouth, but becomes uncanny and “the other” after crossing the border when leaving it. This also applies to Kiki Smith’s three sculptures. Even though everything that is alive has to discharge of bodily waste, talking about it or showing it publicly seems outrageous. All three sculptures represent un-idealised but naked female figures made out of sweet smelling wax which seems rather oppositional to the topic and the associated smell with bodily fluids. For “pee body” and “Untitled (train)” the artist used cheap glass beads in either yellow or red exiting the sculptures vulvas. The use of very delicate materials, wax and glass, seems quite opposed to the vulgar topic. The crouched position in “pee body” with the woman’s head lowered makes the viewer look down on the figure which seems to suggest an inappropriateness of the female urinating in public. But is the improperness lying in the public display of the private act or in the voyeur intruding her privacy?
In “Untitled (train)” the female body is free standing while slightly bending forwards with her hand on her knees and turning her body towards the blood stream behind her. Although it might seem like she is trying to look at the blood trail she doesn’t have eyes or any suggestion of eyes. It seems more like she is directing the viewer to look at the blood. Thinking back to the male gaze in art history the woman would seductively look at the viewer (mainly male) to attract his attention. But even though Smith’s sculptures are naked and sexual they are not erotic in any way and represent a taboo that predominantly is uncomfortable to men.
The third work in line with this topic by Kiki Smith is “tale” which also depicts a woman discharging some form of bodily waste. In this case it is an extended trail of a feces. Other than the other two works I have talked about, “tale” does not have any glass beads but rather is the bodily discharge made out of paper. The female sculpture is seemingly crawling on her hands and knees and especially her buttocks is covered in dirt. The sight of this triggers disgust and disturbance but also attracts attention since it’s a very natural process. Her crawling position seems like she is in some sort of agony or in a position of shame. There is this dominant embarrassment about defecating, which is why we are all trying to hide it. But along with birth, ageing and death, the discharge of bodily waste is out of our control which makes und unavoidably weak but rather we should embrace those. Just like the sculpture in “tale” we are dragging “our baggage” around with us at all times.
The reason why I was so interested in Kiki Smith’[s work is that there seems to be a visual resonance with my work, which also (unwillingly) looks like something bodily and maybe even a trail of blood on intestines. Because it is so formless it is just natural for the viewer to try and compare it to known shapes and objects. Since I have produced work about periods and the taboo around it before I was really interested in “Untitled (train)” and the message the artist is conveying and how relatable it is to me as an artist but furthermore as a woman. Just like with menstruation there is an odd taboo about sexual violence, mainly the talk of it. Many women are not reporting the violation against them out of the fear of judgement by their family, friends and society. What is it that makes a woman “unclean” after being raped? Because many woman are not able to talk freely about this topic I find it important to normalise it (not the act but the talking about it), but also to ”shock” people about the vast amount of sexual violence against women every year.
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