Under The Surface (2019)
Performance using photography and live projections, where the spectators are invited to use torches against the body of the performer, hoping to see what lies under the surface.
The performance, designed for no more than three spectators, is carried out in an open floor theatre space, where the audience is allowed to move freely around the room. Firstly, the spectators enter a small lobby where they see a short video of me in costume holding a tablet, which shows a series of slides with text introducing the performance. Each spectator picks up a torch and enters the performing area in complete darkness. The first half of the performance starts when I remotely trigger a camera that takes pictures of me and sends them to the projector after a two seconds delay. The spectators, then, can only see my body during a fraction of a second due to the camera’s flash and then in the projection. Without these devices not even I can see my body. Every ten seconds or so I take a new picture.
I wear a shiny white zentai suit over which I wear: a bra, a miniskirt, a woman’s top, jeans, a turtleneck, a football jersey, a jacket with a hoodie and an Andean Ukuku mask. Each picture shows how I look after taking off a layer of clothing. Hence, each image is different, and they alternate between a masculine or feminine look. Once there is no clothing left but the zentai suit, I take several pictures showing how I take it off revealing my skin little by little. This is followed by a series of pictures of me naked grabbing and pulling different sections of my skin. The first part concludes with a picture of me pulling my lips open and showing inside my mouth. Part two starts with me shutting off the devices, turning on a torch and gesturing the audience to come closer
I sit on a table and press the led torch against different parts of my body, allowing the spectators to see my veins and arteries. They can also see black masses that can be attributed to bones or even a cyst I have on my right foot. After a couple of minutes, I turn on one of the torches held by the spectators and press my hand against it, showing that they can now use them to see under my skin. Once they understand the invitation, I lay on the table to allow them to use their torches on me. The sequence finishes when all spectators are done exploring my body or if none of them wishes to try. The performance concludes with me pressing a torch against my scrotum and then illuminating inside my mouth, showing the spectators what lies underneath.
Under the Surface: Gaze, Body and Technology in a Post-Surface Visuality in Theatre
Video presentation for the Fifteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society, Galway 2020
Full Performance
