soft weapons: Keep Your Hands Off My Body – A Deep Dive into the Exhibition at 12 Franklin
The exhibition “soft weapons: Keep Your Fucking Hands Off My Body” at 12 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is a thought-provoking and immersive experience that challenges viewers to explore themes of bodily autonomy and surveillance. Curated by Cassandra Neyenesch and Lydia Nobles, the exhibition features works by 29 artists that delve into the concept of “soft power” and the body as a site of freedom and resistance.
One of the standout pieces in the exhibition is a series of photographs taken inside a vagina using a sex toy camera. The explicit nature of these images may catch some off guard, but they serve as a powerful reminder of the body’s ability to resist suppression and systemic violence. The exhibition takes its name from Gordon Parks’s assertion that his camera, his art, is his weapon of choice, highlighting the power of art to influence and provoke change.
As you navigate the exhibition space, you encounter a variety of artworks that invite introspection and reflection on your own body. Aneesa Julmice’s etching-on-paper work “The Trinity” compels viewers to consider their movements through the space, while Nobles’s sculptures invite bodily actions of leaning, sagging, and resisting. Aliza Shvarts’s “Dark Play” uses plastic cones arranged in a ring to engage viewers in a kind of spellcasting, drawing them into a contemplative experience.
The exhibition also features multimedia works like Ayanna Dozier’s 16mm film “Nightwalker,” which follows a sex worker up a subway escalator, creating a sense of unease and voyeurism. The sound of a crying baby intermittently playing in the background adds another layer of emotional resonance to the space.
One of the most striking pieces in the exhibition is Christen Clifford’s “Interior Portrait: Tunnel 28,” a large dye sublimation print of what appears to be the inside of a rectum. Set atop a soft chair with the same pattern, the artwork challenges viewers to confront their own internal landscapes and vulnerabilities.
Overall, “soft weapons: Keep Your Fucking Hands Off My Body” is a powerful and immersive exhibition that demands attention and reflection. It occupies an interstitial space, asserting a living, corporeal presence that resists elimination. Through a diverse range of artworks, the exhibition prompts viewers to consider the power dynamics at play in society and the ways in which the body can be a tool for resistance and liberation.
The exhibition is on display at 12 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, until November 22. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with thought-provoking art that challenges societal norms and celebrates the body as a site of autonomy and empowerment.
