Die Bikini Klasse
Ileana Farabani
Ileana Farabani
Die Bikini Klasse
semester topic „Eins Werden Berliner Vereine“3 channel video installation, 16:10, 9:16,16:10, color, 10:00 min, 2024
The project ,,Bikini Klasse'' aims to portray the balancing act of having extremely defined muscles and being perceived as beautifully feminine as a women in bodybuilding. How is being muscular connected to being strong? - Why do the contestants of the bikini class have to proof that muscles and femininity are not an antithesis? - Do they even want to prove that? - What do they stand for and how do they think about life?
"Miss Universe & die Bikini Klasse" (10 min.) is a 3 channel video installation by Ileana Farabani first published in 2024. It was part of the exhibition "Vereint Euch!" (February 16-18th at Medienhaus, Kleistpark) about the variety of Berlin based clubs and their culture.
The middle channel consists of a looping performance of the protagonist Mariem Aloui, who won the title
''miss Universe'' of the bikini class in bodybuilding in 2022 and 2023. While an Al generated Universe image is projected onto her body, Aloui is acting out her stage-posing-performance. Meanwhile the recipient can hear an interview with her talking about the reality of being Miss Universe through headphones.
The left and right channel of the bedazzled screen-triptych are audio synchronized documentations of the National Athletes Committee (NAC) competitions in 2023 Aloui took part in and won. The recipient can see how she spends the day, gets ready and how flinta-bodybuilders perform on stage while hearing "fly girl" by FLO and Missy Elliott through the screens speakers.