Nora Geist

I am particularly interested in representing Power vs Force. Force is fleeting and propulsive, whilst power is constant. Power is equivalent to drive whilst force directly relates to desire. Drive swallows desire, but desire cannot be digested. The phallus is a symbol of power, embodied by an erect penis, a cigar, a tall building, a tree, a ferocious animal, a person in an authoritative position or any thing or being which encourages/curbs/regulates the desire/enjoyment of the O/other. The O/other might be God, the monarch, the media, the headmistress, the neighbours—any placeholder that regulates our enjoyment that links us to power, embodied in the phallus. The phallus is the signifier of power while a penis is a signifier for the male gender; the former sometimes encapsulates the latter. The phallus is akin to drive while a penis is akin to desire. When they are brought together, the union is sublime, and what results is absolute but finite power and force. When they are separate, it becomes clear that anyone—women in particular—can have the phallus even though we do not have penises, or that a man can have a penis, but no phallus or power. I illustrate the dialectic of drive and desire in the very scenarios of my shoots.

London