In the book Irigaray discusses the status of woman in Western philosophical discourse and in psychoanalytic theory. Freud's essays on female sexual development are analyzed and critiqued in a fair amount of detail.
"Freud falls back on the affirmation that the libido is necessarily male, and maintains that there is in fact only one libido, but that in the case of femininity it may put itself in the service of "passive aims. P.58"
Irigaray also talks about psychoanalysts who have offered alternatives to Freud's theorization of penis envy in infant girls; such as Melanie Klien, who discussed 'penis envy' as "a secondary reaction formation compensating for the difficulty that the girl, the woman experiences in sustaining her own desire. P.52"
One of the lectures was an artist's talk by Kate Just whose work seemed very related to Irigaray's writing and concerned with interiority and space and the female body. the work Just showed was entitled Inward Gathering and was an installation of three components. The first was a series of oversized keys modeled in shiny black clay with various symbols inscribed upon them. Each key is representative of a person significant to the artist. (the one below is the artist as she perceives herself)
On a mirrored oval on the floor of the room sit several glass flasks filled with water; all rounded shapes with teetering, precarious spouts. They looked scientific, but are clustered together in an intimate way.
On the wall opposite the keys are a number of perspex boxes which contain collages of strange instruments designed to probe the body; endoscopes, butt plugs, scalpels, what look like medical and dental instruments... all concerned with probing, slicing and entering the body
Here's a few of Kate Just's knitted sculptures. They look amazing.
I'm definitely going to Kate Just's next show, which will be:
SOLO:
Unearthed
Craft Victoria
28 April - 11 June 2011
Opening Night: Thursday 28 April, 6-8pm
For more information go to
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