SETTINGS & FINDINGS N.5 WITH VIVI TOULOUMIDI
Intro by matt lambert:
I have known Vivi Touloumidi for some years now through the social gatherings of exhibitions and seminars. Her work as I have known it has always asked deep thoughtful questions and often promotes the viewer to consider the political actions of wearing. I invited Vivi to share with us some of their current research they are conducting as a PhD student at Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA) that investigates what is jewelery and what does it mean to participate through a specific logic of research material. As Vivi state there is still so much more to learn that the findings here are only partially known creating a space for some exciting research growth.
The work started by thinking adornment in reverse.
What if, it was forced?
What then?
What if, it was created with the goal to devalue the body, not to enhance it?
And what if, it aimed at degrading the identity for the likes of the spectator?
My locality in Berlin gave me lots of food for contemplation, a few years back. About two blocks away from the new apartment, a well persevered WWII forced labor camp was located. I saw there some wearable badges used to systematize the bodies of the workers for the first time. The ontological question kept pending: Is this jewellery?
By several field visits and archival research, mostly in Germany, this body of work under the title “vom Abzeichen zum Auszeichnen“, emerged. It references back to the black triangle ; a sign which was assigned to any prisoner classified as “asocial” at concertation camps. Historically, it is the pink triangle, that is a well-known protest emblem, used by LGBTQ movements. That too, was invented by the Nazis as a derogating sign against homosexuals. A lesser-known aspect though, is that the pink triangle was intended for men only. The homosexual female bodies were classified as “asocial” (mostly, but not always). A grouping which targeted numerous sub-identities that spanned from homeless to non-conformist women to any behaviour that transgressed the top-down guidelines. The black triangle is considered historically the most feminized category of the WWII.
Following common strategies of socio-political dissent, such as appropriation and subversion, and while acknowledging similar locations of thought emerging globally today, the work proposes statement-pieces that speak of resilience, emancipation and self-determination of the female body.
my finding: there is yet much more to explore about the human condition and adornment.
www.vivitouloumidi.com
[email protected]
@vivitouloumidi
I have known Vivi Touloumidi for some years now through the social gatherings of exhibitions and seminars. Her work as I have known it has always asked deep thoughtful questions and often promotes the viewer to consider the political actions of wearing. I invited Vivi to share with us some of their current research they are conducting as a PhD student at Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA) that investigates what is jewelery and what does it mean to participate through a specific logic of research material. As Vivi state there is still so much more to learn that the findings here are only partially known creating a space for some exciting research growth.
The work started by thinking adornment in reverse.
What if, it was forced?
What then?
What if, it was created with the goal to devalue the body, not to enhance it?
And what if, it aimed at degrading the identity for the likes of the spectator?
My locality in Berlin gave me lots of food for contemplation, a few years back. About two blocks away from the new apartment, a well persevered WWII forced labor camp was located. I saw there some wearable badges used to systematize the bodies of the workers for the first time. The ontological question kept pending: Is this jewellery?
By several field visits and archival research, mostly in Germany, this body of work under the title “vom Abzeichen zum Auszeichnen“, emerged. It references back to the black triangle ; a sign which was assigned to any prisoner classified as “asocial” at concertation camps. Historically, it is the pink triangle, that is a well-known protest emblem, used by LGBTQ movements. That too, was invented by the Nazis as a derogating sign against homosexuals. A lesser-known aspect though, is that the pink triangle was intended for men only. The homosexual female bodies were classified as “asocial” (mostly, but not always). A grouping which targeted numerous sub-identities that spanned from homeless to non-conformist women to any behaviour that transgressed the top-down guidelines. The black triangle is considered historically the most feminized category of the WWII.
Following common strategies of socio-political dissent, such as appropriation and subversion, and while acknowledging similar locations of thought emerging globally today, the work proposes statement-pieces that speak of resilience, emancipation and self-determination of the female body.
my finding: there is yet much more to explore about the human condition and adornment.
www.vivitouloumidi.com
[email protected]
@vivitouloumidi
Artist Vivi Touloumidi
Vivi Toloumidi's work & Short Bio
Vivi Touloumidi
1977_Athens, Greece
Currently, living and working between Berlin, Brussels and Antwerp.
Vivi Touloumidi is an artist, researcher and a craftswoman. While, she serves as a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2018-onwards), she is conducting a PhD in the Arts at ARIA and University Antwerp, under the title “Pharmakos”. The enquiry investigates jewellery and body adornments at times of social conflict, where the symbolic and physical agenda of the wearable craft object is examined both historically and in contemporary times.
The project started by thinking jewellery in reverse. Instead of a wallpaper laid on the surface of the public body that displays value, the target was to investigate it as a tool that aimed to devalue, stigmatize and marginalize the individual identity for the eyes of the spectator by objectifying the body. This approach alines with Vivi’s overall artistic trajectory that aims at exploring adornment as a multifaceted cultural phenomenon and its manifestations of the human condition ; and thus therefore also as a medium of social restriction and control rather than only as item that enhances the body. Her practice investigates the wearable and the body-related object as an active agent to carry sociopolitical messages, evoke discourse and position a body in the public realm, while taking in consideration today’s social challenges.
Her recent work “vom Abzeichen zum Auszeichnen” emerged from research at historical archives, where cases of social injustice and oppression had been documented. The investigation looked into the design evolution of wearable signs, worn as indicators to systematize human bodies during the WWII. The work draws its title from administration letters of the time and it appropriates and subverts the black triangle ; a sign which was assigned to any prisoner classified as “asocial”. Thus, the work attempts to reverse it into an honouring distinction. Historically, the pink triangle is a well-known protest emblem used by LGBTQ movements. That too, was invented by the Nazis as a derogating sign against homosexuals. A lesser-known aspect though, is that the pink triangle was intended for men only. The homosexual female bodies were classified as “asocial” (mostly, but not always). A grouping which targeted numerous sub-identities that spanned from homeless to non-conformist women to any behaviour that transgressed the top-down guidelines. The black triangle is considered historically the most feminized category of the WWII.
Following common strategies of socio-political dissent, such as appropriation and subversion, and while acknowledging similar locations of thought emerging globally today, the work proposes statement-pieces that speak of resilience, emancipation and self-determination of the female body. On this ground, the choice of the overall title “Pharmakos” comes full circle ; the word derives from the Greek language to describe an entity that performs simultaneously as the poison and the remedy.
(images : https://vivitouloumidi.com/vom-Abzeichen-zum-Auszeichnen-1)
Apart from the material-based work, the gathered documents will be brought into light in an upcoming publication within 2021.
Specifically, the book will include administrations letters of the regime that discuss extensively the evolution of the “OST” badge, which was used at forced labor camps and only on workers who originated from the eastern occupation territories. A long trajectory of correspondences, which elaborate on its redesign and need thereof.
_________
Vivi Touloumidi’s work has been published and shown internationally in several curated gallery and museum exhibitions, such as the Pinakothek der Moderne (DE), COLLECT (UK), KunstRAI (NL), ITAMI Museum (JP), Hellenic Museum (AUS), CODA Museum (NL), GRASSIMESSE (DE), World Crafts Council (BE), SOFA (USA) and is part of the public collections of the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (DE), Cominelli Foundation (IT) and the Marzee Collection (NL), among others. She was nominated for SCHMUCK_Herbert Hofmann Prize, Talente and Friedrich Becker Prize in Germany (twice). After studies in Athens, Greece, she continued her education in Germany, Canada and at Konstfack University in Stockholm, Sweden, from where she holds an MFA in the Crafts. Since 2018, she is a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, is conducting a PhD in the Arts at ARIA and University Antwerp, became a member of CCQO (Culture Commons Quest Office), while she also acts as a co-curator of the annual artistic research METHOD/ART seminar.
For more info/Cv , please visit: www.vivitouloumidi.com
1977_Athens, Greece
Currently, living and working between Berlin, Brussels and Antwerp.
Vivi Touloumidi is an artist, researcher and a craftswoman. While, she serves as a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2018-onwards), she is conducting a PhD in the Arts at ARIA and University Antwerp, under the title “Pharmakos”. The enquiry investigates jewellery and body adornments at times of social conflict, where the symbolic and physical agenda of the wearable craft object is examined both historically and in contemporary times.
The project started by thinking jewellery in reverse. Instead of a wallpaper laid on the surface of the public body that displays value, the target was to investigate it as a tool that aimed to devalue, stigmatize and marginalize the individual identity for the eyes of the spectator by objectifying the body. This approach alines with Vivi’s overall artistic trajectory that aims at exploring adornment as a multifaceted cultural phenomenon and its manifestations of the human condition ; and thus therefore also as a medium of social restriction and control rather than only as item that enhances the body. Her practice investigates the wearable and the body-related object as an active agent to carry sociopolitical messages, evoke discourse and position a body in the public realm, while taking in consideration today’s social challenges.
Her recent work “vom Abzeichen zum Auszeichnen” emerged from research at historical archives, where cases of social injustice and oppression had been documented. The investigation looked into the design evolution of wearable signs, worn as indicators to systematize human bodies during the WWII. The work draws its title from administration letters of the time and it appropriates and subverts the black triangle ; a sign which was assigned to any prisoner classified as “asocial”. Thus, the work attempts to reverse it into an honouring distinction. Historically, the pink triangle is a well-known protest emblem used by LGBTQ movements. That too, was invented by the Nazis as a derogating sign against homosexuals. A lesser-known aspect though, is that the pink triangle was intended for men only. The homosexual female bodies were classified as “asocial” (mostly, but not always). A grouping which targeted numerous sub-identities that spanned from homeless to non-conformist women to any behaviour that transgressed the top-down guidelines. The black triangle is considered historically the most feminized category of the WWII.
Following common strategies of socio-political dissent, such as appropriation and subversion, and while acknowledging similar locations of thought emerging globally today, the work proposes statement-pieces that speak of resilience, emancipation and self-determination of the female body. On this ground, the choice of the overall title “Pharmakos” comes full circle ; the word derives from the Greek language to describe an entity that performs simultaneously as the poison and the remedy.
(images : https://vivitouloumidi.com/vom-Abzeichen-zum-Auszeichnen-1)
Apart from the material-based work, the gathered documents will be brought into light in an upcoming publication within 2021.
Specifically, the book will include administrations letters of the regime that discuss extensively the evolution of the “OST” badge, which was used at forced labor camps and only on workers who originated from the eastern occupation territories. A long trajectory of correspondences, which elaborate on its redesign and need thereof.
_________
Vivi Touloumidi’s work has been published and shown internationally in several curated gallery and museum exhibitions, such as the Pinakothek der Moderne (DE), COLLECT (UK), KunstRAI (NL), ITAMI Museum (JP), Hellenic Museum (AUS), CODA Museum (NL), GRASSIMESSE (DE), World Crafts Council (BE), SOFA (USA) and is part of the public collections of the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (DE), Cominelli Foundation (IT) and the Marzee Collection (NL), among others. She was nominated for SCHMUCK_Herbert Hofmann Prize, Talente and Friedrich Becker Prize in Germany (twice). After studies in Athens, Greece, she continued her education in Germany, Canada and at Konstfack University in Stockholm, Sweden, from where she holds an MFA in the Crafts. Since 2018, she is a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, is conducting a PhD in the Arts at ARIA and University Antwerp, became a member of CCQO (Culture Commons Quest Office), while she also acts as a co-curator of the annual artistic research METHOD/ART seminar.
For more info/Cv , please visit: www.vivitouloumidi.com
