During the BredaPhoto festival in the Netherlands, Erik Kessels, a 54-year-old Dutch artist, installed 60 four-by-four meter photographs of women’s faces across the Dutch skatepark Pier15, entitled ‘Destroy My Face.’ Erik Kessels used an algorithm to compose sixty portraits based on photos of men and women on the internet who have undergone some form of plastic surgery. He titled it “Destroy My Face” because the idea was that skateboarders would destroy the faces by skating over them. In his artistic statement about the work, Kessels calls the women “monsters” and “wonders if they are still human.” His intention was an interactive work that revealed criticism of the beauty ideal and plastic surgery.
His work, which ultimately contained only women’s faces, became more of a sexist and misogynistic message. Of course, that is never okay, but it is especially unsettling in the art– and skate world, both very masculine worlds. It should be obvious why an artwork that incites violence against women is not acceptable in 2020. Therefore, it shocked me that a skatepark and a photo festival think it is. And even decides to cooperate with a project that shames vulnerable women who are victims of a masculine world’s beauty ideal.
Words by Gwen van der Zwan
Angry Feminists
As a co-founder of a female skateboarding platform (FOEF), an artist and a woman, I protested against this artwork. I contacted other skateboarders and told them we had to stand up against it. Thankfully, more and more people from the art– and skate world spoke out against it; a collective called We Are Not A Playground wrote an open letter to BredaPhoto and Pier15, and a discussion on social media followed. People online accused critics like me of blackguarding the skateboard culture. We were called angry feminists and stupid for not ‘understanding’ the work.
The skate park remained silent; however, a week later, they decided to remove the installation. They released a statement about this decision in which they declared they ‘had’ to remove it because their sponsors threatened to withdraw their finances. A very remarkable statement, I think.
Women should not Skate.
I started skating as a kid but stopped at 14 because all the boys from my crew told me that I didn’t look ‘sexy’ when skateboarding. That a female body is not for skateboarding and that I would never find a boyfriend if I continued. Even though I didn’t skate anymore, I stuck around in the crew, sitting at the side of the park being ‘sexy.’ At 25, I realized it was total bullshit for me not to skate and picked up my board again. Sexism was a big part of my youth in the skate scene and even made me stop doing what I loved. And although the skate scene is less sexist nowadays, it is still a very conservative and masculine world. Walk into any skatepark, and you will see the norm is male. Most skateboarders are white men; there are hardly any openly gay skateboarders, and (professional) female skateboarders are not been taken seriously.
Since I got aware of the sexist culture in the scene, I fought for equal treatment in the skate park, industry, and the sport in general, and I am happy to see that there is more space for female and gay skateboarders than 15 years ago. It makes me feel safe when I skate these days, and I no longer feel judged for how I look. Still, I talk to girls with a love for skateboarding about their fear of going to the skatepark on a daily basis. I tell them it’s a safe place and that the skate scene is pretty chill towards women nowadays. And that’s why ‘Destroy My Face’ unpleasantly hit me.
Placing a female-unfriendly work of art in a masculine world like a skate park does not create a safe space and is not ‘chill’ at all. With this ‘artwork’ we learn young skaters, it is customary to judge and destroy women based on their looks—kind of the opposite of what I tell to scared female skateboarders every day.
Cancel Culture
The director of BredaPhoto, Fleur van Muiswinkel, only responded by saying that removing it is a manifestation of cancel culture.
Because I’m curious about what We Are Not A Playground thinks of this, I called the initiators (two recent design graduates). They tell me that they do not see their open letter as a manifestation of cancel culture and that dismissing criticism this way is a way to avoid a conversation about sexism, misogyny, and inequality. “The only thing Muiswinkel did was inviting us to participate in an unpaid talk as part of the festival program and debate the work with Kessels. Because this felt unsafe, we requested a private conversation, but Muiswinkel stated she was unwilling to talk without the media involved. I can only see this installation as an attack towards women, especially those who underwent plastic surgery and therefore look like ‘monsters.’ The misogynistic installation goes beyond all nuances of why somebody would have plastic surgery, and it doesn’t open avenues for reflection or debate about the beauty ideal.”
And I can only agree with that. I hope that both the art and skate world will take this event as an opportunity to reflect on their inclusiveness, something that is still very necessary. Although BredaPhoto and Pier15 didn’t do this, I was happy to notice that my home skatepark, Skatepark NOORD in Amsterdam decided to communicate even more inclusiveness than they already did. By hosting more girls nights, cooperate more with the gay community, have female and nonbinary skaters behind the bar, and, most of all, have a welcoming and friendly attitude towards everybody in the park. And that gives me a safe feeling after all.
