Mateas Pares: Could you tell us a little bit about the background of the artwork?
Vilma Ideberg: Before I made this work I had done a very detailed textile work as a paraphrase of a work by Louise Bourgeois, from her ”arched figure” series. It was a hand-sewn doll made from the measurements of my own body and after making this very time-consuming and detailed work I wanted to do something light and fun so I decided to make a male doll. The design is very simple and it’s made with a sewing machine so it only took me a day to make. When he was done I felt a lot of love for this exposed and vulnerable figure. I realized that you rarely see the male body in this way.
In what way would you say the male body is mostly portrayed?
Traditionally I would say the male body has been portrayed in a position of dominance and strength, unlike the female body which has been objectified and sexualized throughout history. I feel like you rarely see men in a passive role when it comes to their portrayal in art. They are often an active participant, portrayed as a hero or a god or even someone who takes control of their sexuality, staring into the eyes of the viewer, shamelessly. They are always in control in one way or another.
The artwork "Projection Surface"
When I googled ”omslutningssex” (”enclosing sex” in Swedish, a word which was introduced in order to make the woman seen as less of a passive part in the sexual act, ed. notes) to check when the word and discussion arose in the Swedish society, I only got eight hits. And I never hear it anymore. It seems to me that the world has lost the battle against the fact that the penis is — in the absolute majority of the time in the sexual act — the active part. Do you think your vulnerable figure has a place in the sexual act? Do women secretly crave him?
I’ve read about that word, probably in some feminist text somewhere. I don’t know how I feel about the word, it feels very one-sided in a way. Sex is an act where two people (or more) are active participants, so in that way, I don’t think my passive figure has a place in the sexual act. But of course, it’s also a comment on sex dolls, who are often female, and who obviously are very passive participants. I think women for the most part crave people who crave them back, to a higher degree than men do.
Your figure doesn’t have a face, no toes or fingers, and no nipples. You were clearly not going for realism, which allowed you to have a lot of creative freedom when choosing what to keep and what to not keep. What made you keep the cock, and what were you aiming for when choosing to keep it?
My aim was to depict a man and the easiest way to do that, I felt, was to include a cock. I’ve made a lot of sculptures with vaginas and I guess I wanted to change it up a bit, and I also wanted to see how people reacted differently to a penis vs a vagina.
What have people said?
I have a mattress that I’ve made into a sculpture with a face and a vagina and the usual question I get when people see it is if it’s about sexual harassment, and that really wasn’t the point of it. I just wanted to make a sculpture of a woman lying in bed, comfortable and alone. But I guess the vagina is often seen as something that is there to be used? The reaction to the male figure is often chock or laughter, or even disgust. Some people think it’s lewd, but they don’t feel sorry for him.
Vilma Ideberg
I saw a nice little documentary on Svt (Swedish television channel, ed. notes) called ”Vi Säger Inte Tupé” (”We Don’t Call It Toupee”, ed. notes), which follows a number of men in a hair saloon as they get ”hair systems” applied to their heads and talk about men’s relationship to beauty, to be allowed to feel sexy, self-image, etc. One man brought up the fact that we all laugh at men on film who stumbles and get their toupees knocked off, while if a woman would face the same situation, we would all hold our breath. As you say, the male body has been portrayed in a position of dominance and strength, but it seems to be equally often used for comedy.
I think there is a big burden put on women in today’s society to take a lot of responsibility. There’s a lot of seriousness around being a woman, maybe that’s why people don’t react light-heartedly to the situations that you mention. Women are often seen in relation to others, as mothers, sisters or daughters. While men to a further extent are seen as autonomous beings.
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Text and interview by Mateas Pares
