NO ONE OWNS ME, 2024
DAPHNE RAN AWAY FROM APOLLO BECAUSE HE WAS HARASSING HER. IN HER DESPARATION SHE TURNED INTO A TREE. APOLLO RIPPED OUT A BRANCH TO CARRY DAPHNE WITH HIM. THE LAUREL WREATH BECAME A SYMBOL OF VICTORY AND HONOR.
BY PLACING A LAUREL WREATH ON A DAPHNE TREE, WE ARE GIVING DAPHNE HER AUTONOMY BACK. WOMEN AND NO ONE ELSE OWN THEIR BODIES.
No one owns me is a performative action that took place in the city of Athens, Greece in November 2024.
It is based on the story of Apollo and Daphne in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 1 and highlights the circumstances through which the laurel wreath acquired its symbolic meaning of “triumph, achievement and victory”. No one owns me focuses on the role of Daphne. The action honors her resistance and struggle and seeks to give Daphne back her body autonomy.
The artist bought golden laurel wreaths, popular souvenirs in Athens, and placed them “back” onto Daphne bushes and trees in the city center, among them the big Daphne tree by the lake in the National Garden. Below the installations and in between the stations, posters with information about the action were distributed.
Info 