Abstract

For her artwork Chimera (White Edition) (2001), Minnette Vári digitally recorded the panels of the Hall of Heroes found within the Voortrekker Monument and later edited the footage, inserting her own body within these scenes while performing as the mythological Chimera. In so doing, she constructs a hybrid monstrous figure which merges in part with the existing relief sculpture while simultaneously disrupting it. Through Chimera (White Edition) the artist draws a parallel between the Chimera of Greek mythology— the fire-breathing she-monster comprised of a lion's head, goat's body, and dragon's tail—and the monstrosity that is South Africa's political legacy. Moreover, the term “chimera” has come to describe anything which may be perceived as wildly imaginative or implausible. The work then also comments on the racial biases imbued within representations of the Great Trek on the walls of the Voortrekker Monument and the ideologised portrayal of this event as an ode to Afrikaner nationalism. In this article I discuss how, in parodying classical mythology and deploying self-representation, Vári critically addresses her gender and racial identity in a post-apartheid context. I examine whether her representations subvert traditionalist notions of South African femininity, particularly the volksmoeder (mother of the nation) model. I suggest it is a patriarchal construct which Chimera (White Edition) effectively unsettles by means of the monstrous feminine trope.

摘要

对于她的艺术作品Chimera (White Edition) (2001)，Minnette Vári 以数字方式记录了在先锋纪念碑内发现的英雄大厅的面板，后来编辑了镜头，将她自己的身体插入这些场景中，同时扮演神话中的 Chimera。在这样做的过程中，她构建了一个混合的怪物形象，它与现有的浮雕部分融合，同时又破坏了它。穿越奇美拉（白色版）这位艺术家将希腊神话中的奇美拉（由狮头、山羊身和龙尾组成的会喷火的怪物）与南非政治遗产中的怪物相提并论。此外，“嵌合体”这个词已经用来描述任何可能被认为具有疯狂想象力或难以置信的事物。然后，该作品还评论了在开拓者纪念碑墙壁上的伟大跋涉中所体现的种族偏见，以及将这一事件的意识形态化描绘为对南非荷兰语民族主义的颂歌。在这篇文章中，我讨论了在模仿古典神话和部署自我表现的过程中，瓦里如何在种族隔离后的背景下批判性地处理她的性别和种族身份。我研究她的表现是否颠覆了南非女性气质的传统观念，volksmoeder（国家之母）模型。我认为这是一种父权结构，Chimera（白色版）通过可怕的女性比喻有效地扰乱了它。