The concept of this project, co-authored with the performer Kotomi Nishiwaki, is centred around four traditional Japanese medieval tales: The Pretty Girl, Mesmerized, Red Heat and What the Snake Had in Mind. The first three tales have in common a snake as a symbol of a deregulated female sexuality and/or an assertive male character. Although my videoart has often focused on the sexist characteristics common in many tales conveyed in various cultural arenas, in no way I intend to obliterate the many clever, resourceful and expedient heroines who save themselves and others, as Angela Carter and Marina Warner's anthologies demonstrate. In this project the retellings we propose, inspired by queer theory by Judith Butler and artists like Suzie Silver and Shu Lea Cheang, translate the refusal of a normative heterosexual female identity, fixed and stable, present in the images through which women are usually represented. They intend to replace the position of the authoritative male voice of the narrative and replace it by a new voice - represented by Kotomi Nishiwaki - to which we attribute traits usually characteristic of masculinity, namely assertiveness, freedom of movement and action. However, this character dissolves the traditional boundaries associated with the normative heterosexual body and acts as a cyborg identity that parodies the patriarchal principles adopting a prosthetic skin from a blow-up doll. Scenography, video registering and editing are by me and the performance art is by Kotomi Nishiwaki. We were invited by by João Oliveira (programmer) and Francisco Camacho (choreographer and performer) of EIRA to do this project, that was was presented at eira33, in 2009, and at space Eschschloraque, Berlin, 2011. EIRA and the Festival Temps d'Images/Duplacena were responsible for the co-production of this project.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
– The Snake Chamber, video 'loop' (25:00): color, sound, HD (PAL).
– 1 video projector.
– 1 screen.
– 2 speakers.
– Obscured space.