Maëlle Gross
STRIKE A POSE (2013)
About this work
Strike a Pose follows Ariane, a Belgian bodybuilder with a PhD in life sciences. Through Ariane’s words and movements, little by little the piece unveils a state of ambiguity in the body, exploring identity and image control, and challenging commonplace views surrounding beauty criteria and gender. Pushing its physical limits, Ariane begins to detach from her body, becoming more like its sculptor. At the paroxysm of her metamorphosis, the protagonist becomes extraordinary; out of the stereotyped norms with which her body would be associated. The work offers an invitation to subjective introspection to do with what are considered reasonable and what are considered excessive ways to have a body.