Hannah Koselj Marušič

Hannah Koselj Marušič:

SHE'S A 10: Possess! (2026)

• 32^nd MFRU
• Performance

SHE’S A 10: Possess! examines the social conditioning of bodily self-perception and the processes through which the social gaze is internalised within patriarchal-capitalist society. The project is grounded in an anonymous survey in which participants recorded positive and negative comments about their bodies that they had encountered throughout their lives. The collected testimonies form a collective archive of personal experiences, revealing how gender norms and beauty ideals shape the ways in which individuals perceive and experience their own bodies. Cushions bearing the imprints and impressions of the artist’s body circulate among the audience through the exchange of personal testimonies and the recognition of shared experiences. The bodily imprint connects the materiality of the art object with the intimacy of personal disclosure, which acquires symbolic exchange value within the performance. Temporary possession of the object (the cushion) and, through it, of the bodies and stories imprinted upon it, emerges through the relationships between participants, their willingness to disclose personal experiences, and their capacity to identify with the experiences of others. SHE’S A 10: Possess! is the concluding chapter of she’s a 10, a project investigating the internalised gaze, self-evaluation and the commodification of the body. The work constitutes the practical component of the artist’s MA thesis in Video, Animation and New Media at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana, under the supervision of Prof. Sašo Sedlaček and Prof. Dr. Petja Grafenauer.