Deej Fabyc:
Gender, Space, and Forensic Biography
R.J. Preece: And what about And she watched?
Deej Fabyc: Here, I’m talking to my mother again,
although this time using a hyper-realistic,
fiberglass, body-double of myself—as a
cadaver. The performance starts off looking
like a televised autopsy, but then it
gets twisted. I enact a relationship with
the cadaver, as both a part of myself and
as a way to converse with my dead mother.
At the end, I’m nude and lying on top of
the cadaver, partly adopting a kind of doppelganger
coupling or embracing of death.
I worked with Ian Lander, who trained at
Madame Toussauds, the famous waxworks
museum. When the work was exhibited at
Trace Gallery in Cardiff, I added a surveillance
camera that records and simultaneously
replays the viewer’s physical interaction
with the cadaver. This then brings
viewers into the installation, they begin
to realize, whether they want it or not.
It’s a bit sick really.
R.J. Preece: What would you describe as the major
influences on your work over the years?
Deej Fabyc: There are many: TV crime shows; the
photographer Jo Spence for her content,
her documentation of herself dying of
breast cancer; Robert Gober and Kiki Smith
for their approach to the body. And also
Richard Serra and Robert Smithson for a
new project I’m working on. And, of course,
Vito Acconci.
R.J. Preece: But what about Klein and Pollock?
Here I’m thinking about Exit Action. Or is
it that you see yourself as not influenced
by them, but maybe attacking them?
Deej Fabyc: In Exit Action, I’m referring to both Pollock’s
Action painting and its performance
and documentation—and also to a live art
event. I’m also referring to Klein with the
use of the color and body print performance
paintings. I wrote the word “exit” with my
hair, and at the time, I was wondering if it
would be possible for me to continue to
make art. I saw myself as subverting the
master narrative of Modernist practice, by
literally turning myself upside down—and
sort of taking the piss out of them.
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Deej Fabyc. Gateway to Mag Mell, 2001. Polyurethane and steel, 4 x 5 meters. Werribee Park, Victoria, Australia.
R.J. Preece: After considering these three works, it appears that you used a fundamentally
different approach in Gateway to Mag Mell.
Deej Fabyc: Perhaps in its form, but conceptually Mag Mell is quite similar. The title refers to the
Celtic heaven, without the moral and/or religious baggage that usually goes along with it.
I made a gravestone and based the work on an ancient Celtic memorial to dead kings and
queens. The work acts as a memorial to those who have passed on, so it is still working
within the remit of art that looks at death, grieving, and associated trauma. The audience
is invited to enter this space and perhaps contemplate possible other worlds. It’s a key project
for me because it links to my current work in progress, which is becoming more
involved with public outdoor sculpture.
Deej Fabyc interview: 1 | 2
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