TABOOS PERPETUATE VIOLENCE
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GONG TEPPE, 2019 – in process, addresses domesticity, exoticism, appropriation, power, gender, work, ritual, and the sacred with a handcrafted carpet hung as a gong, telling the stories of domestic abuse survivors.
Eastern religions, such as Shinto and Buddhism, have become culturally appropriated, or misappropriated, in Western cultures, during both the horrific WWII tragedies and during our present technocratic time of the internet, posing several concerns on the sacred and profane. Further, Teppe means warm cover in Norwegian. When said aloud, it is often confused with the word Tepe, such as the infamous Göbekli Tepe. Such an audible confusion of meaning poses as a way to think about esotericism and mythologization based on residual structures. One the more material side, Gongs are commonly used to purify aether in spiritual practices, and questions around the realm of how the invisible becomes physical enter the conversation.
The Gong Teppe (a hand crafted textile, proposed to be realized as a community crochet or knitting program) can be beaten to take out the dust “swept under the rug” with branches in a filmed performance to evoke histories of “witch-hunting” societies often do to the most vulnerable. Stories of survivors can be played through an audible soundtrack by installing speakers into the sculpture. The recorded performance can be recorded and exhibited where shipping costs are not possible.
A proposal for poisonous plant drawings/paintings to be hung in the room around the Gong Teppe further addresses issues of beauty, toxicity, misuse, and knowledge production. Gong Teppe_PDF
Research about the value of labor women often did for families and friends completed via the Veveri Co. project.
History of works by year. https://mariamman.net/bio
Materials gathered: 23kilos of Dutch wool and spools of Norwegian Wool
Contact for exhibition interests: mariammanart@icloud.com
