Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Hitler in a Onesie?

Haaretz. Anne Geddes she's not... 
After giving birth to her second child, Faustina, Danish-Norwegian artist Nina Maria Kleivan suffered severe pelvic joint pain that confined her to a hospital bed, and later to a wheelchair, for six months. It was then that Ms. Kleivan got the inspiration to perform a bizarre act of passive aggression that would put even Jewish mothers to shame: dress her infant girl like the most evil men of the 20th century, take pictures, and travel around the world showing them off to bewildered gallery visitors. (And you thought that shot of you with spaghetti on your head was embarrassing!)


Kleivan acknowledges that her aunt, who lost most of her family in the German camps, "was sickened by" the exhibit, especially the picture of baby Hitler. However, she stresses that "even though comical, you're not supposed to only laugh at these pictures." Rather, she hopes viewers will consider that, "Even my daughter could end up ruling Denmark with an iron fist. The possibility is still there. You never know." 


An expert in psychopathy who wrote a text to accompany the exhibit sent Kleivan a letter afterward reporting his discussions with colleagues about whether or not little Faustina would suffer long-term psychiatric damage from the experience. They decided that she would not (though he did "recommend [she] save [the] letter"). It's a good thing, too. Because if the girl did, in fact, grow up to be a psychopath who "ruled Denmark with an iron fist," I'd hate for Ms. Kleivan to always wonder if it was her little dress-up games that pushed the girl over the edge!
JewBrain Tinier

1 comment:

  1. I thought you mean the real one in a onesie:

    http://www.thebanger.co.uk/2013/11/27/the-hitler-onesie/

    ReplyDelete

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