22.11.2024 – 17.01.2025
‘M. Butterfly’ was conceived in 2020 and presented for the first time as a kinetic theatre installation at KRAFT Bergen (Norway) in 2022. The work questions the Western tradition of the binary understanding of gender and ethnicity. The exhibition is based on the theatre play of the same name, which serves as a counter-narrative to Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’ and its colonial perspective on the East and the feminine. In both the play and the exhibition, the character of the play is transformed from an obedient woman into a transvestite male diva, both of whom possess a deadly and exotic charm. The exhibition places various objects made of glass, textile, wood and metal in a cohesive setting to visualise the idea of the Orient presented exclusively in a Western context. Based on the play ‘M. Butterfly’ by David Henry Hwang, the mythical illusion of the ‘Orient’ observed in the Western context is sarcastically depicted in the aesthetic landscape of a stage with exotic charm, and visual traditions of various Asian nations are blended into a holistic idea of the ‘Orient’, a state that makes one the object of the excising gaze. The images shown, the interiors of Asian restaurants in Western countries and the Asian clothing shown in Western media, serve as the main reference point for a visual gesture of the exhibition. M.Butterfly Vol.2 : Death Proof will be visible from the outside as a window installation during our winter break from 14 December 2024–13 January 2025 and can also be heard via QR code.
M.Butterfly Vol.2 : Death Proof
22.11.2024 – 17.01.2025
esc medienkunstlabor
Bürgergasse 5, 8010 Graz
www.esc.mur.at
