A Justine.
Mónica Cabo
From January 22 to April 22, this section, devoted to hosting special projects by new creators, features the project
A Justine by the Asturian artist Mónica Cabo. As in other occasions, the artist uses the material culture derived from play processes to create strange and intriguing toys; they highlight, with minimum intervention from the artist, their hidden values as efficient instruments for constructing our personal identity.
In this case, the object on which the work is centred is a piñata, a handmade object traditionally used as the representation of sin in the Catholic religion. In popular culture, piñatas personify the figure of the devil, who, according to tradition, uses superfluous, appealing things to attract man and make him fall into temptation and sin. The piñatas filling represents divine grace, and the action of hitting it is a symbol of the individuals will and determination to conquer sin. For the artist, this apparently harmless object -very popular in childrens parties- is useful for generating a poetical analogy between it and another element -a human one in this case- created to be beaten up: the famous Justine, a character created by the Marquis de Sade, in his story Justine or The Misfortunes of Virtue. In the artists own words, A Justine
is an excuse for presenting a body, a temporary object, created as part of the evolution of an action and destroyed at the end of it. Created to be hit until it breaks open, with the sole purpose of everyone receiving the benefits of the animal, by means of the joy and fun of the party.
