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- Title
The Search for a More Desirable Origin: Steven Cohen's The Cradle of Humankind (2011).
- Authors
Smit, Sonja
- Abstract
This paper analyses The Cradle of Humankind (2011), as a questioning of Western notions of beauty and reason through a strategy of abjection. Steven Cohen's work is often focused on his own marginal identity as a queer, Jewish homosexual performance artist which can be seen in many of his works; Ugly Girl at the Rugby (1998), Dog (1998), A Shame and a Disgrace (2007). In The Cradle of Humankind, which explores notions of evolution, Cohen relieves his performance of its usual spectacular theatricality and instead focuses on a complex relationship. Performing with childhood domestic worker Nomsa Dlamini, Cohen challenges perceptions surrounding Africa and the African body. As a white-male artist, Cohen reveals a selfreflexive approach as he pays careful attention to the politics of representation through his immersion in the work and his careful design of the space.
- Subjects
HOMOSEXUALITY &; art; TAPESTRY; JEWISH art &; symbolism
- Publication
Liminalities, 2015, Vol 11, Issue 5, p1
- ISSN
1557-2935
- Publication type
Article