Bare Necessities: Fleshing out body politics

11 August 2015 - 02:02 By Rea Khoabane

As a ''genderqueer" artist, Dean Hutton's work explores the way in which we express love for ourselves by using technology. Hutton spent 18 years working as a photojournalist before she devoted herself to becoming an artist. In her latest documentary, Goldendean, she looks at the inequality of nakedness - how it's acceptable for some bodies to appear naked but unacceptable for others - and at how notions of beauty resonate with the beholder.Hutton describes her new installation as a ''work in progress" - she is making a video element for the piece that will be exhibited in public spaces around the world. Her intention is to explore other people's identities while she explores her own.Hutton found it difficult to accept her own body, but now she believes people should own their personal beauty and power by stripping off external layers - both figuratively and literally - by taking off their clothes and letting down their defences."Goldendean is an intervention taking place in public spaces where people can start conversations about their bodies," she says.She says the piece also examines power relationships by interrogating how a photographer looks at a subject and then reconstructing that perception by working with people and their reactions."With Goldendean, I also want to interact with people outside the art community; to make the public stop and engage with naked bodies - not as threatening, but as an interaction between people at the most honest level."Hutton's ''work in progress" will travel next to Ghana, where she's hoping to collaborate with a Ghanaian artist to tell stories of inequality.Curated by Lavendhri Arumugam and Natalia Palombo as part of the SA-UK Season, Goldendean's first showing took place in the window of Ithuba Art Gallery in Braamfontein. The installation was displayed as a one-hour residency as part of a collaboration with Lindiwe Matshikiza and Anthea Moys, called Room to Let."The aim behind showing installations in a public gallery is to break boundaries, taking art away from gallery walls in order to engage with the public."I want to create an authenticity of art work, because people don't want female bodies presented in a particular way in public," Hutton says."I want people to be allowed to look deeper within themselves and to question what is presented as the 'ideal body' by the media."After forming her photojournalism, video and design company 2point8, Hutton's focus is to tell South African stories through videos and photography. Her work is found in various public and private, local and international collections...

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