As I was trailing around the different rooms at P.S.1 I stumbled upon an installation entitled Before and After by a debuting artist named Ana Horvat. To my surprise, when I attempted to engage in some kind of conversation with you guys about the exhibit you didn’t know what I was talking about. It must have been tucked in the west wing. Anyway, on one end of the room there was a three-channel video installation, each video contained documentary plastic surgery procedures. The first one was liposuction, the second one was a nose correction, and the third was a breast augmentation. What made the piece especially interesting and funny was that surgery was being performed, not on real humans, but what looked to be home made plush dolls. The first video installation, on liposuction for example, depicted human hands cutting flesh colored fabric stuffed with poly-fill and proceeded to pull pieces of poly-fill out of what seemed to be a leg. The hands would carefully place the poly-fill to the side as if it were fatty tissue. The breast augmentation and nose correction were done in a similar fashion. In the center of the room, there were four jars containing poly-fill and fabric posing as reminisces of each operation. Each jar contained a label, one reading nose operation another that read cellulite. Opposing the video installations was a wall of before and after shots taken of the plush characters as well as personal responses to the operation. One of the responses went like this:

Nose correction
Mirjana K., 32

Before
Suffering from septum deviation, I always had breathing difficulties and frequent upper respiratory infections. A few years ago, I began to intensively pursue singing-it’s my great love. Unfortunately, a year ago I had to stop because I started loosing my voice due to infections caused by my nose structure. Also, I never liked the shape of my nose, so when the doctor recommended surgery, I said yes – that would kill two birds with one stone.

After
The operation was very painful, and the hematoma and the swelling lasted for a very long time; I didn’t leave the house for a month. The cartilage was removed, so the nose was soft. The nose has been changed, but not enough – it is smaller, but not symmetrical. I still don’t like it. Also, as far as the function is concerned, the operation was a failure. Because the operation was extensive and the scar big, there has been unexpected tissues movement during the healing process. I’ll have to repeat the operation.

Although, it wasn’t the best installation I saw at P.S.1 I thought it was a witty attempt at addressing issues of women and the infatuation to obtain ideal beauty. The before and after reactions to each procedure served as an effective commentary on how patients will endure rather heavy amount of pain and aggression as they try to achieve acceptance from others as well as personal satisfaction. The idea of the procedures being performed on dolls really took me back to childhood playing with dolls and that it perhaps could be posing as a childhood game gone too far. A child experimenting with plastic surgery is funny but also disturbing and adds to the drama of a society obsessed with looking perfect.