Parricida

“Parricida,” is a durational ritual set within a restroom space, challenging the patriarchal norm of familial name inheritance through intimate one-to-one engagements. Inspired by Franz Kafka’s metaphorical use of parricide in "Letter to My Father" to critique authoritarian structures, “Parricida” is an act of resistance against these norms, employing care as its core methodology. Participants, prompted by an attendant while they wash their hands, engage in dialogues reflecting on identity changes if their maternal name was inherited instead of their paternal. This scenario encourages participants to inscribe their first names along with both parents' family names on the restroom mirrors, symbolically reclaiming their maternal lineage.
Theoretically, the intervention draws on feminist care ethics, emphasizing performative and body-centric aspects of care as aesthetic and resistive practices. This re-naming act, documented through participant-photographed reflections and their subsequent sharing, serves as both a personal and communal reclamation, and a broader commentary on gender equality.

Empirically, the study employs qualitative analysis of the documented dialogues and visual data, illustrating how such interventions can significantly alter perceptions of identity and lineage. This not only foregrounds underrecognized maternal histories but also amplifies narratives that challenge patriarchal oppression, fostering a discourse on gender equality through creative acts of care.

The performative intervention will contribute to the dialogue on how artistic practices can be reimagined as acts of worldmaking and care, challenging and extending existing aesthetic theories. It aims to provide theoretical insights and practical outcomes, advocating for a reconsideration of the aesthetic and ethical value of care in the arts, crucial for advancing social justice.