In the second semester of 2010, I travelled to London for a one-year masters course at Chelsea College, an institution that was a part of the University of the Arts.
The course directors advised us to take the opportunity to try things we weren't used to doing. Being a painter, I experimented stepping out of that medium and began trying out performances. I was curious to try something that wasn't a physical product. Something I could dive into during the MA without concerning myself with whether it could be marketed as a product. Something that depended on my physical presence, so that the work would forever be inexorably linked to me.
During my year in London, I met classmates who were fathers. And, as artists, they invariably had the lowest income of the couple. I interviewed some, and began to gain further interest for the dynamic of the father in a family. The importance of the father's role. The interest would still need a few years to actually surface as a key topic in my work, but it was beginning to show it's power back then.
From the conversations and interviews, a concept began to form within my mind. An idea of concentric spheres of influence. The son or daughter would be at the center, surrounded by the maternal figure, which would be in constant contact and nurturing him or her. But both would be separated (protected?) from the aggression of the outside world by the paternal figure. He would have contact and action upon the outside world and the mother, but would be barred from coming in contact with the son or daughter. He'd be the most external line of defense in that family unit, and the first one to take the brunt of the outside world.
I was aware that this family structure was quite traditional and outdated. Even more outdated was the assumption that these roles should be tied to gender. In my MA class, I had come to know fathers who spent more time and home and with their kids, while the wives worked in high-paying career jobs and had little contact with the household. I also knew there was an ideal of both sharing equally in the household chores as well as the earnings. But I was also aware of the lingering tendency towards that structure, even in more progressive couples.
At some point in my MA, I spent some time coming up with a performance titled "Father". It had its issues: the maternal figure was totally absent and I couldn't define an appropriate costume that made sense and brought meaning to the performance. But the image of my initial study for the performance was kept in my social media and I think it has a potency that merits being seen.
In the performance, I come into the space with a cast mold out of which I retrieve a wax egg. I carefully place the egg on a pedestal and brace myself for what comes next. A person outside the performance space throws stones in an attempt to break the egg. My role, as a "father", is to prevent any damage to the egg. On one of the three videos recorded while I studied the performance, I inadvertedly stumbled on the pedestal, knocking down the egg and breaking it. Like an overzealous father who ends up harming instead of helping. The performance also incorporated my criticism on the disposability of the male body and how it could be harmed in service of a cause. My assistant during the videos, MA colleague Jonathan Morgan, took it easy when throwing the stones. Therefore, I wasn't left with any marks on my in the aftermath. But it would have been interesting to documento the bruises in some way.
Father (study)
2011
Videoperformance
1'29"
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