Cherophobia

Back in September 2017, artist Noëmi Lakmaier lay still for nine hours as a team of balloon assistants and a "bondage engineer" attached 20,000 balloons to her immobilised body. Eventually she achieved lift-off, but since she was inside the Sydney Opera House, she didn't float away.

This was the second time she performed this piece, having first performed it in St. Leonard's Church. Designboom.com explains:

the ropes that bind the artist’s immobilized body reflect bondage techniques, including shibari — a japanese art form used to emphasize the female form. in reference to lakmaier’s body, the installation seeks to raise further questions about idealized body standards. in ‘cherophobia’, the artist becomes ‘the (imperfect) object of the viewer’s gaze.’

More info: abc.net.au.

Red Bull // Noemi Lakmaier // Cherophobia from Matt O'Brien on Vimeo.

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 03, 2018
Category: Performance Art

Comments

She violated the cardinal rule of performance art: as a woman, she’s supposed to do it naked.

Posted by Brian on 01/03/18 at 02:23 PM

... and covered in chocolate syrup and screaming at the audience. (Old running joke.)

Posted by KDP on 01/03/18 at 04:56 PM

This reminds me of that one time, in the olden days, when the helium salesman was in town during a public hanging and the scaffold broke. The mayor was up for reelection on a tough on crime platform and decided to make a statement and hired the helium salesman to make a spectacle to boost his chances for reelection. Unfortunately they didn't set the strings right and the con-man they were hanging floated off without a broken neck or choking and last that was heard of him he was calling himself a wizard, giving everyone jade coloured glasses and ruling over a green city.

Posted by Fluffy Bunny Slippers on 01/03/18 at 08:26 PM

The term "bondage engineer" was never even mentioned when I was in college so I settled for the mundane mechanical type.

Posted by crc on 01/04/18 at 08:26 AM

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