Sunday School #5: Health & Beauty
Sunday School this time cuts into the theme of Health & Beauty. Being beautiful increasingly implies the need to expose yourself to unhealthy things, but how far can one go? Anneke Smelik (professor of Visual Culture at Radboud University) exposes the being of hair removal and the hairless human in minute detail. Peter Hollander (professor of Physiology at the Amsterdam Free University) tells us about the sense and non-sense of fitness machines. And be prepared to hear the (provisionally) final word about placebos!
Artists demonstrate extreme examples of ‘happy and beautiful people’. Who says beauty is not ageless? In her film “Forever”, Julika Rudelius portrays youthful cosmetic panoramas of ageing American women. L.A. Raeven tell about ‘The Height of Vanity’ – 2 Chinese women who undergo leg extensions with dramatic effects – and about previous projects in which the duo exposes the beauty ideal in a painful manner. In addition, Sunday School shows works of Martha Colburn, Erwin Olaf, (ex-fat girl) Nagi Noda, and others.
Come around and leave with a new self image.
Sunday School is an intellectual variety show. Scientists, designers and artists take surprising and unexpected stands to creep up on various themes.
Anneke Smelik
Professor Anneke Smelik, lecturer at the Women’s Studies department, will give a lecture to shed her light on the depilated human. She will also chair the discussion following the screening of Rudelius’ work ‘Forever’.
Peter Hollander
In his lecture, Peter Hollander will discuss the sense and non-sense of fitness machines. The later at night, the more television ads show us machines and techniques promising tight bodies, muscles of steel and six pack abs. Professor Hollander will show us some examples of this and question whether the promises made correspond with theory, and whether the results presented are confirmed by adequate research. Subjects dealt with include Muscle Stimulators (such as the Abtronics), Vibration Plates (such as the Power Plate), the Polar OwnIndex and the OmegaWave.
L.A. Raeven
The work of Liesbeth and Angelique Raeven, known as the L.A. Raeven duo, centers on the beauty ideal imposed on us by Western society. This ideal causes people to lose their identity and notion of what beauty really is. The twin sisters themselves are extremely slim causing them to be social outsiders. ‘Kelly’ (2005), and ‘5200ml’ (2005) deal with the excrescences of the beauty ideal featuring girls that have a desire to be extremely slim, whereas ‘ No Whites’ (2007) and ‘Height of vanity’ (2008) demonstrate the impact of Western beauty ideals on other cultures.
Julika Rudelius
In ‘Forever’, Julika Rudelius portrays ageing American women and their excessive cosmetic surgeries. More work of Julika Rudelius will be shown at the Impakt Event: Julika Rudelius on 13 October.
