Objects with Orifices

Exploration of the obvious, classic Freudian dimensions of the category Objects with Orifices is a direction into which—for better or for worse—the curators are slipping. In Freudian terms, there are both male and female subtexts associated with each of the objects in this category. The objects taken as a whole—or seen at a distance—are phallic, the orifices themselves are vaginal.

Seen in the proper light, these are the dualities, perhaps, of any artifact. Yet here nothing is latent. The holes in these artifacts all make direct reference to the interior—in many cases the dark, unknown, really scary interior. And yet, as well, we have long, heavy, “truncheon-shaped” items as well. Look around you. There are dichotamies here.

As far as our senses are concerned, the interior becomes the exterior, as in the x-ray. Think of Hans Castorp and his tubercular cousin, Joachim Ziessmen in Mann’s novel, The Magic Mountain, (1924) and the examination room. They experiment with a primitive x-ray machine, holding their hands up to view. Molecular structure now enters the picture, as dna research becomes commonplace and a long, endlessly turning spiral of molecules comes into focus. Even the particles that make up the atoms of our world and universe have now been made visible. Does this mean that the universe has yeilded up its mysteries, and that there are no more secrets out there? We think not.