Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Video, 11 minutes loop, 2014
In „Self-fulfilling Prophecy“ it can be seen how the artist literally eats herself, more precisely a life-size cast of her body made of agar-agar. This material, which is similar to jelly, is gained from algae. Owing to its organic substance the material contains a latent life-giving potentiality. In its double condition of lifeless and lifelike it could be compared with clay.
In Gerstmayr´s work this traditional material goes through a scientific and culinary transformation. The choice of material could be seen as a crucial moment, which activates a framework of meaning, corresponding to the creation of Adam and Eva from clay.In this video the artist eats her own cast, she reverses the Greek legend of the Pygmalion miracle, which could be seen as the grounding myth of all sculptures. The sculptor no longer creates an ideal female companion, which could be brought to life by the gods, but the female sculptor eats her mirror image – which has become „flesh“ – as an action of cannibalism. Self-fulfilling Prophecy is a piece of art in which Stefanie Gerstmayr inscribes herself into the male art history and deconstructs it at the same time.
Text by Michael Hofstetter
