Julie Goslinga

Understanding Other(s) is a video-installation that invites the viewer to engage with the concept of ‘otherness’. Through an array of ‘Other’ characters, that are respectively monstrous, alien, deformed and modified, Julie Goslinga touches on a personal and current topic: how we encounter the societal Other. Whether they express themselves through alternative sexual- and gender-identity, eccentric physical presentation, or unconventional presence, these Others point out what a societal norm might be, and inherently challenge it. 

Fueled by complex metaphors and confusing desires, this artwork fantasizes about a universe where these inner ‘Other’ turmoils can be glorified and praised with dedicated fervour. It finds, however, that these intentions are easily misunderstood. Who is the Other if not just a political tool?

The characters in ‘Understanding Other(s)’ don’t ask for empathy when wanting to be understood. They ask for respect, they ask to be heard, they ask to finish their sentences. You’ll find however, that they’re quite eager to interrupt each other. The layer of humorous (self-)criticism in this work reflects on how Otherness is politically charged, a tension carefully positioned by the art, the artist, and the audience. And, now, the ‘Others’.

In its essence, ‘Understanding Other(s)’ is intended as a humble but baroque invitation to re-adjust the hurried judgement of the strange. To see the strange as something to rather be looked at with newfound curiosity.