Lassen/2 [Letting/2]
Graphic work | 2014
Funded by the Bauhaus Degree Completion Scholarship for students
The work »Lassen/2« [Letting/2] is an experiment the artist conducted on herself, comprised of eight graphic works and 192 texts. The project was part of her Diplom thesis on the subject of body hair and healing.
»The experiment consisted of a self-healing process by being present in my body and accepting what was there. Over a period of 192 days, I sat down for a while every day, went deep into myself, probed myself. I felt my body from within, observed my emotional and spiritual states, my thoughts, and in this way, learned how to feel at home inside myself. Every day I chose a different part of my body that was particularly noticeable. I then drew this part onto the etching ground of a copper plate and then added a furry, hairy, feathery or scaly structure to it. In a sense, I was letting a protective, healing, warming fur grow over this place. Having
a thick skin’ describes the emotional state of one who can prevent things in life from affecting them so strongly.«
The final product is a journal of healing, describing Josephine Bauer’s experiences during the process of self-experimentation. In the end, it is no longer a journal, but a seemingly scientific object.