Doris Boerman: Plugs, Pores, Walls and Lures Self-Design as Sculpture

With the series of sculptures titled ‘Plugs, Pores, Walls and Lures’, visual artist Doris Boerman responds to the practice of self-design as a form of mass occupation, common identity and pseudo individuality in popular culture. With hair, earrings, scrunchies, wall plugs and gallery walls, the series talks about the feminine as a commercially constructed value, as well as the normative female body and its role in (art) history.

Alongside the series of sculptures Doris Boerman presents three accompanying texts especially written for this publication: Fashion researcher Femke de Vries wrote an essay about self-design as a mass cultural practice, celebrities as designed surfaces and strategies of disclosure to restore trust in this ‘unreal’ system. The poem by lesbian artist, LGBTQIA+ activist and poet Joëlle Sambi compares the black woman’s skull to a battlefield on which normative and repressive standards are a constant battle to fight against whilst remaining proud and strong. Finally, the essay by visual artist and writer Timmy van Zoelen stages a dance around Doris’ sculptures by way of the curvature of her spinal column; taking the backbone for a spin in a series of playful references. These contributions respond to the series of sculptures with a wide range of topics and create a relevant network for further deliberation.