Eszter Biró

Coercion is the byproduct of the research I conducted for the Silenced project. I became interested in the invisible elements of abuse. While most people understand the forms phyical abuse, there is less understanding of emotional and verbal abuse – of the kind that are almost invisible to detect, but in time bites pieces out and can destroy a person. I kept thinking of used house textiles, that in time began to fade, the material gaves up due to overuse; yet it is held together and still on surface radiates beauty. Only when one looks close the signs show. I chose my paternal grandmother’s hand embroidered tablecloth. A familiar object, that was always folded. The overarching pattern only revealed itself to me once I began to work with it. A viewer from a distance can focus on the almost intact pattern or from proximity examine the discoloured and damaged parts.

Originally Coercion was planned as one peace, however in time it grew into a 3 part work.

Part 1 – CoercionI a white on white 1:1 drawing of the tablecloth. This one consist of 32 unique pieces that I refer to as Fossils.

Part 2 – Women Talking: Women Talking reflects on coercive control that I experienced at workplace. Workplace related abuse is often overlooked, as HR policies are in place. Nevertheless, spending 8 hours a day in such an environment is enough to wear a person down. Especially as these issues eventually are too much to leave it at the office, it will be taken home and impact home life and relationships. There is an impression that HR procedures and policies are in place to protect. However, many times, as was in my case these were inefficient. The experience revealed a similar systematic failure. When I raised this with higher managment, they offered support; but it never manifested. In their view this was “she said – she said” situation.

Eventually, I became the problem and was accused of misconduct after I stepped in as a cover to do reception work. The reception was a glass cage with much fresh air – designed to protect me from the outside. One’s proction is other’s surveillance. I was reported for reading a book and whistling. I can’t whistle. I did read Miriam Toews’ Women Talking on the way to work and left it at the table. Ironically, the situation paralelled with the book. The systematic structure, women being caged (with an illusion of choice) and the prohibition of reading. With black and white filament I wanted to show the two sides. This time the overal pattern of the tablecloth was not respecting the motifs (the Fossils do), but arbitrarily cuts right through them (as office rules that wrap professioalism to inhuman practice). To immitate the suffocating glass cage situation, I casted the plates in a thin coat of epoxy, allowing uneven surface and trapped air bubles.

Part 3 – Safe and Together. My line manager’s abuse began to show patterns but higher managment refuse to view the situation as such. I was also faulted because I turned to HR. Safe and Together is a methodology moves the emphasis from victim blaming to the perpatrator by mapping the patterns of abuse. This is no small task. To demonstrate its challenges I drew again the overal pattern, but now breaking it up even more. The atwork consist of 80 pieces that are shuffled together; it is the viewers’ task to piece it back together.