Fetish, from the series 'Implantation of a perversion', 2004

On 28 April 2003, Dorota Nieznalska was placed in the dock of the District Court in Gdansk. She was accused of having offended religious sensibilities with her ‘Pasja’ (English: ‘Passion’) work exhibited a short time earlier in Galeria Wyspa in Gdansk. Because of the media coverage of the case, even politicians became interested in it so the artist heard a verdict which was not, in the end, issued by the court. Those were breakthrough events not only in Nieznalska’s work but also as regards the understanding of the role of artists and their work in society. A year later, still surrounded by the atmosphere of a national scandal, Nieznalska created a series of photographs in which she combined religious motifs and dark sexual practices. The ten works comprise the ‘Implantacja perwersji’ (English: ‘The Implantation of Perversion’) cycle and show objects associated with animal training and sadomasochistic practices. The ‘Fetysz’ (English: ‘Fetish’) work presents black, leather gas masks with winding black pipes. The work is mainly black, with mellow light reflecting from a few surfaces and revealing their structure. All Nieznalska’s works refer to sadomasochism but 'Implantacja perwersji' does so most directly. As I have already mentioned, domination is eroticised in that series but the photographs also show the game between the dominators and the dominated, their roles and power play. The results of scientific studies indicate that women constitute a significant part of the sadomasochism community. There is no agreement as to whether they become engaged in such practices for their own pleasure or to satisfy men. Some commentators claim that women realize male desires, primarily those related to violence against women which in this case is ‘disguised’ as subversive fantasies. Other researchers respond that sadomasochism does not have much in common with the actual violence against women; instead, it is a cathartic game based on a rich spectrum of fantasies about domination and subordination. They are of the opinion that in most cases partners agree on the boundaries of the sexual psychodrama in order to establish the safe area in which they can realize their fantasies' (Agata Jakubowska Ciala (nie)posluszne w tworczosci Doroty Nieznalskiej - English: (Dis)obedient Bodies in Dorota Nieznalska’s Work - in: Ucielesnienia II. Plec miedzy cialem i tekstem - English: Embodiements. The Sex Between the Body and Text - ed. Joanna Bator, Anna Wieczorkiewicz, Wydawnictwo IFiS PAN, Warsaw 2008, pp. 143-151).

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