Boundary Boss

Boundary Boss is a song with a videoclip by Melanie Bonajo & Friends with set and costumes by Splitter Splatter. The project addresses having ownership over your personal boundaries, so that you know your own preferred behavior and that of others. This is essential for the development of a healthy solid sense of self and self-esteem.

Also, we are in desperate need of this, because we are going through a boundary crisis. Innumerous examples show patterns of unacceptable behavior towards other peoples, species and genders, which in the end of last decennium has for example resulted in the #MeToomovement. A toxic culture with forced gender roles keeps us from exploring who we are as individuals. In addition, people are impatient with themselves and fall back on shortcuts to happiness. This is fueled by our digitized worlds in which we have lost contact with the processes of nature. Consent work is sexy.

It is 2020 and Boundary Boss is done being a victim. A Boundary Boss re-claims ownership over their body, their norms and values, her boundaries. Boundary Boss shows that in fact we dó have something to say about who and what we engage with in life, and what we will ‘block’ instead. Our body and feelings are forms of intelligence that can guide us through this exploration. 

Boundary Boss is Mel’s personal story and yet is way bigger than herself alone. Boundary Boss is a community project that has come into being with the spirit of a group. Mel’s own body and that of her Friends (her team) serve both as a subject and an object in the process: they are both researcher and researched. Through the power of positive affirmations as ‘I am a Boundary Boss’ and the colorful pop-up fantasy world in the clip, Boundary Boss compellingly shows how self-reliant humans are, and how close we are to a new future. Boundary Boss radiates that working on your boundaries is accessible, sexy, and eminently non-capitalistic.