Abstract
“Servile Ornamentation” is a performative project that interrogates the historical violences embedded within marriage as an institution that has relegated women to endless, unpaid, and socially unrecognized domestic labor. Created collaboratively with the self-managed space Laboratoria Performativa, the work emerges from two pivotal circumstances: the COVID-19 pandemic and its injunction to “stay at home,” and the donation of wedding dresses by the international collective Soy Nosotras. By juxtaposing the conventional bridal gown with the iconic yellow cleaning gloves of domestic labor, the performance stages what it calls an “ancient disorder,” seeking to provoke sociocultural transformations that confront normalized violence and reinforce collective responsibility. Premiered on November 28, 2021, during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence at the Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento in Guadalajara, Mexico, the piece brought together a diverse collective of artists including Mayté García, Ricardo XCF, Cristal Miramontes, and others.
“Servile Ornamentation” is a performative project centered on the historic violences hidden within marriage, an institution that has forced women into endless domestic labor as unpaid and socially unrecognized. Created collaboratively with the participation of the self-managed space Laboratoria Performativa, the proposal arises from two specific circumstances: the 2020 pandemic and its slogan “stay at home,” and the donation of wedding dresses by the international collective Soy Nosotras. Linking the conventional bridal gown with the well-known yellow cleaning gloves used in domestic work, the performance rehearses what it calls an “ancient disorder,” with the aim of setting in motion socio-cultural transformations that educate about the normalization of these violences and reinforce responsibility for the common good. It was first presented within the framework of the 16 Days of Activism for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, on November 28, 2021, in the plaza of the Templo del Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, with the participation and authorship of Mayté García, Ricardo XCF, Cristal Miramontes, Graciela Mendoza, Laura Rivera Mora, Tari Luna Müller, Kenya Espinoza, Bárbara Hernández, Florencia A., Luis Charles, Karen Villaseñor, Marian Copado, Miroslava Castañeda, and Mónica Ornelas.”
Citation
Ornelas, Mónica. 'Servil Ornamentación [Servile Ornamentation]'. Dispossessions in the Americas. https://staging.dia.upenn.edu/en/art/AMEX017/

