Ritratto continuo mod. Prisoners
“Ritratto continuo mod. Prisoners” is a video installation on and featuring women convicts. With it, I have wanted to confront society's – and my own - taboos on women inmates by spending a week inside Rome's Rebibbia, the biggest female prison in mainland Europe. This at a time where preconceived ideas on prisons, as well as convicts are particularly ingrained in our society. How can a woman humiliate herself so much and sink this low?
My encounters with these women, Italians as well as foreigners, murderers, thieves, drug mules, have been a continuous confrontation on stereotypes and commonplace truisms that at times have developed in dialectical vehemence and contrast, with both parties often maintaining their original position.
The length of the video, projected on 9:16 vertical widescreens, is 1h 20, with each woman in the project appearing for 90 seconds. It is a portion of a larger work in progress called “Ritratto continuo mod. 3.375.020.000” – with the number 3.375.020.000 referring to the approximate number of the female population in the world, all potentially part of the project. This particular setup sees women convicts sitting in the same chair and adhering to the same concept that I have previously used for the portrayal of muslim women, nuns, brides, famed intellectuals and door to door saleswomen.
As such, women convicts are shown while they cast their own message towards the viewer: intended for future generations, these words painted on their hands are the outcome of our week together.
My encounters with these women, Italians as well as foreigners, murderers, thieves, drug mules, have been a continuous confrontation on stereotypes and commonplace truisms that at times have developed in dialectical vehemence and contrast, with both parties often maintaining their original position.
The length of the video, projected on 9:16 vertical widescreens, is 1h 20, with each woman in the project appearing for 90 seconds. It is a portion of a larger work in progress called “Ritratto continuo mod. 3.375.020.000” – with the number 3.375.020.000 referring to the approximate number of the female population in the world, all potentially part of the project. This particular setup sees women convicts sitting in the same chair and adhering to the same concept that I have previously used for the portrayal of muslim women, nuns, brides, famed intellectuals and door to door saleswomen.
As such, women convicts are shown while they cast their own message towards the viewer: intended for future generations, these words painted on their hands are the outcome of our week together.
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