Chris Fite-Wassilak on Johanna Billing's 'In Purple' and Suburban Space
In a piece for Afterall, Chris Fite-Wassilak delves into Johanna Billing's 2019 video titled 'In Purple.' The video features a dance troupe in pink outfits moving purple glass through a suburban area in Sweden. Against the backdrop of 1960s and 70s pastel concrete, nine young women transport the glass to a basketball court, where they briefly dance before dispersing. Fite-Wassilak argues that the work highlights the often-overlooked connection between young women and suburban public spaces, coining the term 'purplewashing' to show how aesthetic updates can mask deeper social issues. The essay references Stacy Alaimo's concept of 'violet-black' from 'Prismatic Ecologies' (2013) to explore how young women claim their space in neglected environments. This analysis first appeared in ArtSchool 2020, alongside Central Saint Martins and Museu de Arte de São Paulo.
Key facts
- Johanna Billing's 'In Purple' is a 12-minute video from 2019.
- The video follows a dance troupe of young women in a Swedish suburb.
- The setting is a landscaped park with pastel-colored concrete buildings from the late 1960s-early 1970s.
- The buildings were painted in the 1980s as an act of regeneration.
- The dance routine lasts only 90 seconds of the video.
- Chris Fite-Wassilak introduces the term 'purplewashing' to describe highlighting the masking of social issues.
- The essay references Stacy Alaimo's 'violet-black' concept from 'Prismatic Ecologies' (2013).
- The essay was published on June 18, 2020, as part of ArtSchool 2020.
Entities
Artists
- Johanna Billing
- Chris Fite-Wassilak
- Stacy Alaimo
Institutions
- Afterall
- Central Saint Martins
- Museu de Arte de São Paulo
- Tiqqun
- Semiotext(e)
Locations
- Sweden
- Cairo
- Istanbul
- New York City
Sources
- Afterall —