Moma PS1: IIU SUSIRAJA

Iiu Susiraja’s work is contrived in a way to make the viewer uncomfortable and to question why they feel that way. In the way that models sink their teeth into a juicy burger Susiraja is consuming food in the way, letting the food drip over her body. In contrast she is not a size one airbrushed model in a beautifully lit set, rather she, a plus sized woman, is in a bleakly lit suburban setting consuming food. This feeling of unease is aided by the lighting, her physicality, and her confrontational gaze as both model and photographer. The similar size and placement through the two rooms leads to it feeling almost as if they are slides of a scene in a film with their repetitive themes and similar slides and framing. The video work by Susiraja is far superior to her photography, the photography holds space, but the holding of time that the video has makes the air electric. You sit in her message of discomfort .

The low hanging fruit in comparison to Susiraja’s work is Northern European Rineke Dijkstra. From behind the camera Dijkstra photographs waifish teenagers who you could almost mistake for adults posing like Botticelli paintings. The body and the way that we are consuming them brings the viewer to question their viewership like with Susiraja. Jenny Saville is the direct comparison from the painting world, someone who also paints large nude women in a way that challenges the view. Susiraja’s work is fascinating. The theme she is exploring is a rich one but there is a contrivedness to elicit the reaction that is far richer in the video work than photography.

-Aidan Lapp