Vital statistics
(1997)
Medium
fibreglass, rubber, synthetic polymer paint, chromed metal, cibachrome photographs
Measurements
(a-e) 242.5 × 374.0 × 193.0 cm (variable) (installation)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds from the Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2004
© Julie Rrap
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s theory of manque (lack) – the opposite of presence – although not ‘feminist’, allowed a new engagement with Sigmund Freud and provided the language for a feminist retort to castration theory. Lacan articulated the difference between ‘being’ and ‘having’ the phallus: men are positioned as men because they have the phallus, and women, who are lacking, are theorised to be the phallus. By casting the negative space between her legs for her installation Vital statistics, Julie Rrap renders Lacanian lack into presence – the negative space inciting desire rather than horror.