This so-called inability to function

Installation with four felt fabric objects (“Addicted to the praise” 530 x 140 cm / “This so-called inability to function” 95 x 75 cm / “When I’m depressed, I need you. When I’m manic, I want you.” 115 x 80 cm / “Models of work” 380 x 75 cm)

The work is based on interviews with an anonymous woman who works professionally with relatives and family members of people with mental illnesses. In our interview she spoke of her relationship to her partner who is bipolar and to her father, who had an undiagnosed illness himself. The quotes chosen for the pieces focus on the relationship between illness and functioning in a society: On the stigmatisation which comes with the territory of not being able to work regularly and continuously in working conditions with defined limits. The experience of a mental disease of not-functioning. The fabric is bright and cheery, while the texts are melancholy – a bit like salsa music. I wanted to create a portrait of her without giving away her identity or the identity of her partner.