Don’t eat the biscuit
Painting, sculpture, video projection ｜Collaboration with Lucas Betz｜Fabrik der Künste Hamburg 2024
Don’t Eat the Biscuit
In their installation, consisting of a painting, a sculpture, and a projection, Penny Monogiou and Lucas Betz explore the power of images—their ability to embed themselves in our collective memory and reinforce stereotypical narratives. At the core of the work lies the cultural and religious assignment of blame, particularly the biblical image of Eve. Was she truly responsible for all suffering? The root of oppression, hunger, the domination of man over woman, painful childbirth, and death? Or was the Fall an act of emancipation—a symbol of every free person who wants to live without fear and restriction?
In Don’t Eat the Biscuit, the supposed nun is not holding an apple but a cookie—a symbol of inherited cultural, religious, and gendered images that continue to confine women today, burdening them with guilt and limiting their freedom. The projection displays scenes of global disasters and wars but also highlights decades of women’s resistance and protest.
Encircling the painting is the phrase “Hey, I’m home” in English and Greek. A message many women send to friends or family after a night out, signaling that they arrived home safely. But while home is a place of safety for many, for countless women, it is the opposite. The phrase becomes a silent distress signal—an unspoken acknowledgment that, even at home, danger may still be present.
Monogious and Betz work raises a pressing question: How much longer must women pay for an alleged “fault”? When will the world truly be a safe place for them?