JOSEF MACH

Isn’t It Cool How Nothing Here Changes at All?

Body Design Studio

Your installation shows the encounter of a clearly structured grid with the material fragility of porcelain. Can we read this as signifying a “giant with feet of clay” – that is, a system that appears stable but is in fact built on shaky foundations?
Exactly. The grid, represented by a checkerboard pattern, is actually a metaphor for binary structures and prescribed rules that influence and constrain us every day. I wanted to create a landscape that would represent the current state of the world. I have been thinking about how rules and the constant drive to simplification and categorization actually do not help us, and about how a system that ultimately serves only a handful of people is, at its core, fragile. 
I chose the materials for their unique properties, which I then developed conceptually. We know that wax is soft, that it burns, and that beeswax smells sweet, and we also know that porcelain is a fragile and delicate, almost noble, material. I chose porcelain specifically for its fragility and beauty, but also due to people’s fear of handling it. Its untouchability and ubiquity led me to draw a parallel with contemporary patriarchal capitalism, which stands on very fragile foundations.

The theme of dysfunction and failure appears in several aspects of your work. Are there situations in which you perceive failure as a productive moment?
Here, I would build on the ideas of Meg-John Barker: Meg speaks of failure as a form of resistance against patriarchy and heteronormativity. Failure can become a means of liberation by revealing the mechanisms that limit us. So, yes, failure within a dysfunctional and limiting system can actually be a productive moment. And this can happen even on an emotional or identity-related level.

The motif of the chessboard carries with it the idea of rules and clearly defined positions. What do you think about this system – do you think it is possible to disrupt or transform its boundaries, or does it always shape us in some way?
It certainly shapes us in some way. It is simply something we are thrown into, and we all try not to drown in it. However, I think it is definitely possible to break down the boundaries of the system, and that we are, in a way, all doing it. It is impossible to fully live within these binary structures due to the very nature of holistic existence. It is something that simply does not exist. Take, for example, gender, sexuality, and their social constructs within binary positions – whether someone is masculine or feminine has nothing to do with gender. Social constructs of the “proper man” or “good woman” serve a system that stands on shaky ground and ultimately serves only itself. My own identity is not heteronormative; it is my personal “disobedience” towards these systemic norms.

photo: Polina Davydenko