'Potency' by Nina Maria Klevian
In March, The Daily Mail reported the story of a woman who dressed her baby up and photographed her. Seemingly not remarkable. But these photos were not taken for a cutseywutseykid.com competition, nor were they the Anne Geddes kind found plastered around shoe shops. Rather, these were taken in the name of ‘art’ and showed the baby, Faustina, dressed as Adolph Hitler. According to the artist’s website this happened in 2000, so the story is ten years old. If only Prince Harry had been paying attention in 2005, he could have averted his own Nazi scandal by blaming his armband not on fancy dress, but on art.
With the publication of the artist’s new book, entitled Enigma, the baby pictures have resurfaced. What I want to know is what is happening to the art world? Has everyone gone mad? The artist, Nina Maria Kleivan, is understandably keen to defend her work, including from her husband, who is unsure about their daughter’s modelling opportunity. According to the artist, the series, entitled ‘Potency’ expresses an “open and painful recognition of that about the infant you cannot know, what it holds, which qualities it will show later in life.” As well as the unknowable future, Kleivan wants the viewers “to contemplate them, ponder where this evil comes from”.
I wonder if this is a desperate attempt to reiterate G.K. Chesterton's point. His detective character Father Brown explains how he solves so many murder cases: “You see, [...] I had planned out each of the crimes very carefully [...] and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it [...] until I realized that I really was like that, in everything except actual final consent to the action.”
In Kleivan’s words, “We all have evil within us”. Her piece is not an invitation to view all children with deep suspicion. It is an invitation to self-reflection. As someone famous once said, "When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent”. If only someone had suggested this to Kleivan, who conceived of the project when bedridden and bored. She has thankfully now recovered, and Faustina is not yet “ruling Denmark with an iron fist” as her mother feared, but has grown up to be remarkably good at playing the violin. Just don’t mention the fact that Mussolini reportedly played the violin when he wanted to relax.
With the publication of the artist’s new book, entitled Enigma, the baby pictures have resurfaced. What I want to know is what is happening to the art world? Has everyone gone mad? The artist, Nina Maria Kleivan, is understandably keen to defend her work, including from her husband, who is unsure about their daughter’s modelling opportunity. According to the artist, the series, entitled ‘Potency’ expresses an “open and painful recognition of that about the infant you cannot know, what it holds, which qualities it will show later in life.” As well as the unknowable future, Kleivan wants the viewers “to contemplate them, ponder where this evil comes from”.
I wonder if this is a desperate attempt to reiterate G.K. Chesterton's point. His detective character Father Brown explains how he solves so many murder cases: “You see, [...] I had planned out each of the crimes very carefully [...] and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it [...] until I realized that I really was like that, in everything except actual final consent to the action.”
In Kleivan’s words, “We all have evil within us”. Her piece is not an invitation to view all children with deep suspicion. It is an invitation to self-reflection. As someone famous once said, "When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent”. If only someone had suggested this to Kleivan, who conceived of the project when bedridden and bored. She has thankfully now recovered, and Faustina is not yet “ruling Denmark with an iron fist” as her mother feared, but has grown up to be remarkably good at playing the violin. Just don’t mention the fact that Mussolini reportedly played the violin when he wanted to relax.
