Justina Vanovcan
Bio
Justina Vanovcan is an interdisciplinary artist. Currently her focuses are photography, performance, and writing.
Artist Statement: The Bus Pass Project : I’d Rather Go Naked Than Not Wear My Bus Pass
I have been generating ideas for The Bus Pass Project for five years. Throughout this time I collected models, lost models, examined which poses best suited the project, and changed the location of the shoots from indoors to outdoors. The through-line of the project is naked people posing casually at select bus stops in the city.
Many people on disability feel embarrassed to show their annual passes to the drivers because they are concerned about judgement from them and from other riders. This project transcends this worry by having naked bus riders wearing only their disability passes.
This project showcases that the disability pass, or, the disability, is a big part of the experience of being a person on social assistance. The pass is not there to symbolize an incidental condition that one has been diagnosed with three times removed by the neighbour’s cat.
I am bringing awareness to the idea of not trying to hide a disability. I have no desire to hide my illness behind convoluted language. The idea of admitting that we are not all the same. I am getting away from the fantasy of believing that some of us may have some minor (major) difficulties, and that with compassion from the rest of society, that we can all see beyond these types of conditions. Having a disability informs a large part of my life, and I do not see it as encompassing a small fraction of who I am.
So yes, I’d rather go naked than not wear my bus pass.
Justina Vanovcan is an interdisciplinary artist. Currently her focuses are photography, performance, and writing.
Artist Statement: The Bus Pass Project : I’d Rather Go Naked Than Not Wear My Bus Pass
I have been generating ideas for The Bus Pass Project for five years. Throughout this time I collected models, lost models, examined which poses best suited the project, and changed the location of the shoots from indoors to outdoors. The through-line of the project is naked people posing casually at select bus stops in the city.
Many people on disability feel embarrassed to show their annual passes to the drivers because they are concerned about judgement from them and from other riders. This project transcends this worry by having naked bus riders wearing only their disability passes.
This project showcases that the disability pass, or, the disability, is a big part of the experience of being a person on social assistance. The pass is not there to symbolize an incidental condition that one has been diagnosed with three times removed by the neighbour’s cat.
I am bringing awareness to the idea of not trying to hide a disability. I have no desire to hide my illness behind convoluted language. The idea of admitting that we are not all the same. I am getting away from the fantasy of believing that some of us may have some minor (major) difficulties, and that with compassion from the rest of society, that we can all see beyond these types of conditions. Having a disability informs a large part of my life, and I do not see it as encompassing a small fraction of who I am.
So yes, I’d rather go naked than not wear my bus pass.
I'd
Rather Go Naked Than Not Wear My Bus Pass #1
60” x 36"
Photographic Print
$1000.00
60” x 36"
Photographic Print
$1000.00
I'd
Rather Go Naked Than Not Wear My Bus Pass #1
60” x 36"
Photographic Print
$1000.00
60” x 36"
Photographic Print
$1000.00
I'd
Rather Go Naked Than Not Wear My Bus Pass #1
60” x 36"
Photographic Print
$1000.00
60” x 36"
Photographic Print
$1000.00
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Photography provided by Grace Francis & retaken (as installed) by Rachel Warwick