{"id":972,"date":"2026-01-04T01:20:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/?p=972"},"modified":"2026-05-29T12:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:48:18","slug":"divine-threshold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/divine-threshold\/","title":{"rendered":"Vulva as Divine Threshold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[\u2192<\/strong> Polski]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist: Zula Tuvshinbat<\/strong>
Eat me
tapestry, wool, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This artwork is part of the exhibition Imagining Queer Utopia<\/a>, <\/strong>curated by me (Micha\u0142 Rutz) at Queer Museum Vienna<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eat Me depicts a giant vulva shown frontally, flanked by a pair of spread, crouching legs in black boots. At its center appears both the challenge and the title of the artwork: \u201cEAT ME.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Divine Pleasure <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Zula depicts the vulva in a highly stylized manner \u2014 through flat, vivid planes of color and dynamic lines that lend it a graphic quality. From the center of the composition, numerous rays spread outward like an explosion in shades of orange, red, and pink. Both the expressive color palette and the monumental scale point to the power of an intensely overwhelming experience \u2014 orgasm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Divine Boundary <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The shape of the vulva evokes a religious symbol, namely the mandorla. The mandorla \u2014 a halo with a distinctive almond-like form \u2014 traditionally surrounds sacred figures. It marks the boundary between the human and the divine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this way, Zula links the sacred with the body, creating a unique portal in which the divine and the erotic overlap \u2014 not as opposites, but as complementary forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Christ shown within a mandorla shape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mysticism and Sensuality <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Georges Bataille\u2019s view, religious ecstasy and orgasm have both a bodily and a spiritual dimension. Eroticism melts away the boundaries of the \u201cself\u201d and connects the individual with something infinite and sacred. The subject is dissolved in ecstasy, and its separateness is erased. In this context, the absence of the figure\u2019s head may signal a loss of self in divine pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Come closer: Between Temptation and Threat <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The enormous lips may appear threatening \u2014 large enough to engulf the viewer. Their scale and colors (green legs and a warm-toned interior) evoke associations with a carnivorous plant \u2014 the Venus flytrap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Venus fly trap, photo by Noah Elhardt<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Depiction of cunnilingus on a fresco in Pompeii (before 79 CE).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In this context, the interpretation of the title EAT ME becomes more complex. On one hand, the spread legs suggest an invitation to \u201cconsume\u201d the vulva, emphasizing the erotic meaning of the phrase \u2014 oral sex. On the other hand, the association with the Venus flytrap restores its literal sense \u2014 eating and being devoured. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So who is to be \u201ceaten\u201d? Is this a trap, or an erotic game thriving on risk? Perhaps \u201cEat Me\u201d is a flirtatious invitation to play \u2014 a challenge that could end in death? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who will bring their head dangerously close between the parted lips? Who is not afraid of being devoured (by pleasure)? What are you willing to risk to taste it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come closer. Eat me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To experience ecstasy, one must surrender \u2014 give oneself to the divine lover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new iconography of devotion, seduction, and allure blooms out of the woven languages of mysticism, botany, and eroticism. The shame is forgotten. The vulva becomes divine and wild and challenges us to follow our desires even if we risk dissolving ourselves in the process<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Micha\u0142 Rutz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unruly organisms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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On the right, Bartosz Kokosi\u0144ski, Painting devouring a rural landscape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both Zula’s and Bartosz’s artwork appear as living, unruly organisms\u2014each dominated by a mouth-like form with an insatiable appetite. Devouring jaws become the threshold to a new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading about Bartosz Kokosi\u0144ski\u2019s Painting Devouring a Rural Landscape.<\/strong>
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[\u2192 Polski] Artist: Zula TuvshinbatEat metapestry, wool, 2023 This artwork is part of the exhibition Imagining Queer Utopia, curated by me (Micha\u0142 Rutz) at Queer Museum Vienna. Eat Me depicts a giant vulva shown frontally, flanked by a pair of spread, crouching legs in black boots. At its center appears both the challenge and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,68,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essey","category-imagining-queer-utopia","category-zula-tuvshinbat"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=972"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1741,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions\/1741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}