Eva Filová — Better to Hear Something Once than to See It a Hundred Times (Out of Earshot, Out of Mind)

Eva Filová’s sound installation titled Better to Hear Something Once than to See It a Hundred Times (Out of Earshot, Out of Mind) consists of two seven-minute-long recordings the artist has constructed as a sound collage of selected soundbites from Slovak films¹ created between the 1950s and the 2000s. It is divided into two parts. The first one, containing short soundbites from various scene featuring male protagonists, illustrates how typical Slovak gender stereotypes have infiltrated movie productions. Their screenplay writers put shameless sexists comments into the mouths of the actors, such as: “A woman, and she is all alone. What kind? A blond, wearing a violet sweater, and it is boiling under it”; “And the facade? What do you need the facade for…; I thought I would twist her neck if I found her with a hotshot who doesn’t deserve her…; “Buddy, remember, an erected pole and a woman on her back can both take anything…”. The rudeness of these statements is even intensified by putting them into a seven-minute-long stream of continuous talk. Despite the large timeframe in which the movies were created, there is not much of a difference when it comes to the position of women in society, even though there are some renowned directors and screenplay writers behind them (e.g. Martin Hollý, Eduard Grečner, Štefan Uher, Jozef Zachar). The artist’s second recording focuses on lines presented by female characters and showcases a broader spectrum of topics where the females are not just submissive stereotypes, but also victims of violence or even rebels refusing to accept their prescribed gender roles: “Where the man goes, his wife goes, where you go, I go…; No man, no credibility…; Would you hurt me? Could you beat me? ‘Cause you’re not a man…”; “When I saw him the first time, he broke my heart, when I saw him the last time, he broke my jaw”; “Don’t you dare command me around”. To a certain degree, this wider variety of opinions can be associated with the up-and-coming generation of female directors (e.g. Eva Štefankovičová, Zuzana Piussi) who have incorporated several real-life female characters into their projects. Only a few of the films Filová worked with focus on folklore and rural environment (Rodná zem [Motherland], 1953, directed by Josef Mach, written by Ivan Bukovčan; Očovské pastorále [The Pastoral of Očová], 1973, directed by Jozef Zachar; Hriech Kataríny Padychovej[The Sin of Katarína Padychová], 1973, directed by Martin Hollý; Krutá ľúbosť [Cruel Love], 1978, Martin Ťapák; Pásla kone na betóne [She Kept Asking for the Moon], 1982, directed by Štefan Uher, written by Milka Zimková). Even though the recordings do not explore specific proverbs or sayings, their inspiration with folklore, popularisation of folk rhetorics and their unquestionable “wisdom”, which is inherited from generation to generation, are apparent. The artist critically reflects upon these absurd statements and puts our society in front of a mirror. The high concentration of such lines is absolutely “chilling”. They are full of violence, humiliation and superiority and all of this together attacks our ears and makes them resonate and “inscribe” it into our consciousness. 

Eva Filová is one of few domestic artists whose creative program openly advocates feminism which clearly serves as her life’s doctrine and a tool she utilises along with gender criticism to disclose social mechanisms that create uneven positions for women whose rights have been historically overlooked by our society. She uses her position to critically reflect upon a whole spectrum of social and political themes (violence on women, discussions on abortion laws, the influence of the Church) while using a provocative visual language that disrupts gender stereotypes (diamond-shaped motifs symbolising vagina, phallic motifs, sarcastic visual and verbal aphorisms). She entered the art scene at the turn of the centuries, her first solo exhibition titledWhat Is Feminal Is Political was held at Nitra Gallery in 2003 (curated by  Adriana Čeleďová-Hupková). Her work has been a part of many key domestic exhibitions. She also participated at Nitra Gallery’s other feminist-focused projects, like the Interview from 2010 or the FILM. Directed by Artists 2 exhibition from 2013. Her series of objects titled No Difference (2001), which emphasises gender stereotypes handed down by Christianity that portrays women as either saints or sinners, was selected for an international project titled Gender Check. Feminity and Masculinity in the Art of Eastern Europe (mumok, Vienna, 2010).