Aderlass/Salasso

Benno Steinegger gives his voice to a woman’s diary, written in the darkest and at the same time most liberating hours of her life.

In Aderlass/Salasso Benno Steinegger puts himself in relation to the diary of a woman, written during the darkest and at the same time most liberating hours of her life. She read it to him and told him about that time, and he recorded their conversation. Listening to the recording, he gives voice to her words. This becomes a cathartic act, both for the woman and for himself: he becomes the voice and interpreter of a true story.

This process of identification and overlapping raises doubts about a cultural model that sees gender violence only as a problem of women. It also, and particularly, affects men. The woman’s story becomes his own story: he takes it on by telling it, and in this way frees the woman and himself from their relation to gender violence. With Aderlass/Salasso he tries to redefine male identity, which today seems to be in deep crisis.

The work was created as a video performance for the opening of the exhibition Cose da uomini / Männersache at Galleria Civica in Bolzano, in March 2014, and shown as a video installation.

Dedicated to my mother.