1 — "Corps étranger"
Mona Hatoum is a clear example of a performance artist, with an impactful message and a unique creative vision on the topic of making political art. Tamer Tembeck states "Her praxis, like Wodiczko's, is one of "xenology," a field of knowledge which Wodiczko has described as an "external and internal displacement [that] is about crossing the boundaries inside of yourself." This quote describes the interlocking complexity of Hatoum's many artworks, and how it bends the art of empathy, as her original pieces allow the audiences to be effected in trying to understand her art pieces and find the root of its knowledge.
"By injecting the unfamiliar into notions of home, and revealing the strangeness in each spectator, Hatoum's interdisciplinary artworks help to uproot the very logic of xenophobia — How can one be afraid of the stranger if the stranger is within?" — Tamer Tembeck.
This infatuation with xenology transfers to Hatoum's work, "Corps étranger," a complex work that is made up of padded walls within a cylindrical space which invites the audience into entering and seeing multiple videos of Hatoum's internal body. The work invites the viewer into the space to analyze the many videos of the internal side of Mona Hatoum and is used as a strategy of abjection as it provides an effect of "swallowing the audience" and breaks boundaries between body discomfort. Furthermore, Hatoum does this work also to show how a person entering her body and exploring her biotourism (making bodies and skin into landscapes and rendering the invisible visible) allows connection between the viewer's body and her body.
The viewer becomes the foreign body entering her body and tries to familiarize with the images of Hatoum's internal body and skin, in relation to people understanding her foreign heritage (Palestinian origin). The message behind the piece is that it provides an overview on xenophobia (fear of foreigners) and diaspora (movement of population from homeland), as the uncomfortable pressure of being in a cylindrical space with views of Hatoum's internal organs placed on walls to surround the viewer, allow the viewer to break down the foreign barrier as they become the foreign piece in this artwork and have to familiarize with the conditions placed in Mona Hatoum. "Corps étranger" provides a psychoanalytic theory on identity and discusses how "Hatoum is a foreign body because it is not ours, but also because it is that of a foreigner. Conversely, in accepting, as viewers, to be privy to her exploration, we also accept to be the foreign bodies that are invading her" — Tamer Tembeck.
This piece allows Mona Hatoum's artistry to grow as her performance art defies expectations with relations to xenology and diaspora by projecting images of her internal body and skin to audiences to analyze, showing how Hatoum balances the expectations of performance art perfectly. Her art addresses issues involved with her heritage in the most original and complex ways, rather than just nonsense, it's intriguing and engaging towards the audience which makes it an exquisite piece of performance art.
2 — "Doormat"
Mona Hatoum's 1996 piece "Doormat" embraces irony and darkness through a positive message. "Doormat" is "a domestic doormat complete with the word "WELCOME" spelled out across the middle in hundreds of bristling stainless steel pins, glued to stand upright in uniform rows running along the horizontal length of the mat. Doormat is at once welcoming and frightening, a binary which Hatoum frequently exploits in her work" — Jo Applin.
This piece was created as a commentary for irony when Hatoum was in exile. Furthermore, once the civil war broke out in Lebanon this piece had much more meaning to it, as it describes the irony of welcoming someone into their home, but at the same time making them regret they stepped on the rug. This can also be related to the tradition of wiping one's feet on a rug before entering the house to not leave tracks and marks on the floor of another home. In this case, Hatoum shows how the doormat resembles a plush velvet carpet with an "inviting shimmering surface" but as the viewer approaches it the stainless steel pins start to be seen. Hatoum's message behind this piece can be seen as a specific scenario. The steel pins on the doormat having an effect on someone stepping on the rug, result in a bloody and painful conclusion to symbolize how Hatoum could not rub the dirt off her feet within her own home, because of the invasion and war that led her to see a bloody mess within homes. Its a rather dark, subtle and powerful piece for Hatoum that blends this theory with her tradition as well.
A form of "a kind of attraction/ repulsion" that makes an internal conflict with the person being welcomed, and the person welcoming. Its a statement of trust and culture, as the "Doormat" can also be seen as a "Prayer Mat" which in Islamic culture is where one kneels and stands on a specific rug to pray to their God. In contrast to the holy act, the use of nails makes it uneasy for the audience to imagine themselves even going near the rug for its intimidating and deceiving texture compels the audience to wonder if they are welcomed in love, or welcomed in greed. The use of irony in this piece is the biggest factor as Hatoum shows how the traditional rug can represent her childhood, as she was welcomed to her home all the time, but had to face the consequences of war and exile as she entered.
This piece creates a traumatic atmosphere that allows the audience to emphasize with Hatoum and her pain when trying to connect and feel liberated in her own country (Palestine). The subtle and deranged detail of the piece holds meaning, protest, and controversy which are all elements to make it a brilliant piece of performance art.
