»It's just her and me in an
empty room. We are facing each other. I'm afraid …. of her, the snake.«
I conquer the fear of snakes by
using the treatment method of exposure therapy. Measuring instruments that detects
the pulse, oxygen saturation and the rate of respiration are attached to my
body and record it's response. The performance is being shot by an infrared camera
and filmed by two static cameras.
Will I be able to overcome the
fear?
The performance took place in
August 2022 in an equine disease isolation unit at the Small Animal Clinic
which operates as part of the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ljubljana,
Slovenia. I thank the Clinic for the space and borrowing the equipment, asst.
Juri Žel, asst. dr. Katerina Tomsič, the videographer Jan Pirnat and the owner
of the snake Lana Korun, who helped me to realize the project.
The project was executed under
the mentorship of prof. Uršula Berlot Pompe and the co-mentorship of Tim
Prezelj during the studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University
of Ljubljana. Performans was part of a group exhibition Man # Animal in
the Natural History Museum of Slovenia within the project "European
Night of Researchers - Humanities, that's you!" and with the
cooperation of the Art Council of the University of Ljubljana.
