ABOMINATION: WRESTLING WITH LEVITICUS 18:22
ABOUT THIS ARTWORK
Abomination: Wrestling with Leviticus 18:22 explores the damage done by the biblical passage “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination,” and its homophobic legacy. The first to wrestle with the meaning of this verse were the early rabbis and so my chosen text is the Talmud page where their commentary is recorded. Because this abhorrence of my lesbian sexuality made me feel “dead,” I used elements of the traditional Jewish burial ritual to create my artwork.
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ABOMINATION: WRESTLING WITH LEVITICUS 18:22,
INSTALLATION BY SUSAN KAPLOW, PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRIX ROSEN, 2012
WRESTLING WITH LEVITICUS #2, CONCEPT, GARMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
BY SUSAN KAPLOW, PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRIX ROSEN, 2012
WRESTLING WITH LEVITICUS #3, CONCEPT, GARMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
BY SUSAN KAPLOW, PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRIX ROSEN, 2012
TALMUD PAGE (SANHEDRIN 54B) COMMENTING ON LEVITICUS 18:22,
ART BY SUSAN KAPLOW, PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRIX ROSEN, 2012
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I enlarged the Talmud page and marked the Hebrew words “abomination” (toayva) with earth from the Mount of Olives, which is sprinkled on the body before the coffin is closed. Then I had the Talmud text printed on fabric and hand-sewed the cloth into traditional shrouds (tachrichim). As soon as I'd finished the full set of shrouds, I had an irresistible urge to put them on. I engaged photographer Trix Rosen to document my exploration of what it felt like to be enclosed in the garments with their painful text. Then, I retired the shrouds and the text to a geniza, the traditional repository for texts and objects which have outlived their ritual use.