BRING YOUR OWN ASHTRAY

Bring Your Own Ashtray is a participatory work developed in response to a social gathering of art students from universities in Ghent.

 

The work draws on stereotypes of Belgians: reticence, non-confrontation, and heavy smoking. In response to experiences of cultural displacement, I transformed my head into an ashtray. Self-objectification operates as both accommodation and critique. At the same time, it embraces silence while making it visibly uncomfortable.

 

Through this gesture, the work questions the presumed progressiveness of youth culture in a small academic city. A city in which sexual harassment was common, yet frequently dismissed or left unspoken. Individuals, collectives, and universities often remained inactive and tolerant.

 

By inviting others to use my open mouth, the work creates a silent exchange, raising unspoken questions about presence, complicity, and the framing of people as disposable or foreign rather than engaging with the art community as a space of responsibility.