Instructions No.1 by Sanja Ivekovic

~ JezzieG

Instructions No.1
1976
Video Art
Video performance, duration 6 minutes
Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom

From Iveković’s early video work ‘Instructions No. 1’ exposes the pressures on women to conform to existing ideas of beauty and self-image. With herself as the subject, she uses the lens of the camera as though it were a mirror. Her gaze is directly fixed on the viewer as she draws black lines and arrows on her face and physically manipulates her appearance with her hands. Towards the end, Iveković rubs the markings away leaving traces as faint reminders of the pains and scars that the unrealistic demands of social expectations leave on women.

Sanja Ivekovic 1949-

Sanja Ivekovic
Body Art, Performance Art, Conceptual Art, Video Art, Photomontage
Born: 6 January 1949, Zagreb, Croatia
Nationality: Croatian

Iveković is a photographer, performer, sculptor, and installation artist. She is known for tackling issues such as female identity, media, consumerism, and political strife. As one of the leading artists from the former Yugoslavia, she continues to inspire many young artists

Published by JezzieG

I am a freelance writer and poet and started writing after raising my two boys as a way of discovering just who Jez is. That is still very much an ongoing project but the journey so far has introduced me to many wonderful friends and fellow writers through an ever-growing love of poetry.