Door Prize

Door Prize offers a Foucauldian analysis of the practice of walking barefoot at the Rainbow Gathering, a self-managed event where individuals disconnect from modern society to reconnect with nature. The idea for this series emerged from a joke, where I displayed my injuries as "participation trophies," a nod to those who believe that reconnection with nature requires walking barefoot at night, through the forest. This joke quickly evolved into an ironic game, with others humorously showing me their injuries, asking if they were impressive enough to be included in the project. By documenting the injured feet of participants, the project highlights how the body becomes an instrument of power, where visible signs of discomfort confer a sense of truth and belonging. In conventional society, walking barefoot is stigmatized, and those who live without shoes often face rejection and stereotyping. To deliberately go barefoot, as at the Rainbow Gathering, becomes a means of rejecting dominant norms and subverting the symbol of the bare foot. In this context, it becomes, on the contrary, a status symbol, a performance of defiance and oneness with nature. The rejection of mainstream social norms becomes, in a different landscape, itself a way of asserting a certain social status. The project thus questions the dynamics of truth and authenticity, exploring how bodily pain and vulnerability are valued as markers of an authentic experience, revealing the power structures that shape the community, even in a space that claims to resist them.