TEMPLO: ENCARNACIÓN Y DELEITE BY DORIAN WOOD
BBAX is happy to present to the community the production by Self-Isolation Residency Artist @dorianwoodmusic.
The project for this residency is the creation of a temple. This “structure” is comprised of 20 elements: for 20 consecutive days, Dorian, who identifies as non-binary, recorded a video each day of them embodying Encarnación, performing a 25-minute vocal ritual that honors cis women, transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary beings. A grid of 20 Encarnaciónes singing/enacting the ritual simultaneously, projected inside a dark room with four-channel sound, on a continuous loop; a temple of defiance of traditions that foment trauma and perpetuate normalized oppression.
They believed that becoming Encarnación, even if for a brief moment each day during this residency, allowed them to confront their traumas and empower them to face the dark realities of this pandemic. The figure of Encarnación is derived from the Costa Rican misogynist legend of la Segua, about a woman cursed to transform into a half-human, half-horse creature because of her sexual freedom. She is the strength that has pulled the artist out of a place of self doubt, especially in times when their work has been censored or restricted. In the past, Dorian has attempted several times to bring their work to Costa Rica. Wood's most recent bid for consideration was met by the response “too controversial”. With this project, they hope to both address and challenge the vagueness of that type of viewpoint. They also aim to establish an immersive space in which the public can enter and release/project/share/sacrifice their individual frustrations, to ultimately receive solace, as one would expect in a familiar temple of brick and mortar.
The 2020 Self-Isolation Residencies are in partnership with the Cultural Center of Spain in Costa Rica – Casa Caníbal, the network of ArthouseSpain centers, formed by Museo C.A.V. La Neomudéjar, Kárstica Espacio de Creación and Zapadores Ciudad del arte, in Spain, Plataforma Caníbal in Barranquilla (Colombia) and Women in the Visual Arts (MAV).
COVID-19 ARTIST STORIES
During the COVID-19 shutdown, in collaboration with the La Neomudejar Museum in Madrid, Spain, BBAX gathered artist's stories from all over the world and shared them on our social media, website and Youtube channel.
This project captured a broad spectrum of stories that demonstrates how culture and the arts is able to help us connect, triumph, and survive in a global crisis, as well as shed light on how the pandemic is effecting day to day lives through cancelled events, lost wages, and additional expenses.
With this initiative, we were able to support the artistic community by promoting their work during the shutdown.
#CONFINAMIENTO BY PERFO-RED MX
For 40 days, starting April 25, 2020, the Mexican Network of Performance perfoREDmx, launched an artistic proposal under the slogan #confinamiento, an online cycle of video performances, supported by an institutional network that recognizes New Media Arts.
During the quarantine period, a program was designed inviting forty artists to carry out works in solidarity from home (each 1 to 5 minutes) for the #confinamiento video-performance cycle. Each work was shared on YouTube and Vimeo channels, as well as on the Facebook walls of network members and partners.
Among the 40 artists, the cycle included historical names of Mexican performance artists, such as María Eugenia Chellet, as well as other highly respected international artists from countries including Mexico, Spain, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, etc.
For this, perfoREDmx created important alliances with the La Neomudéjar Museum, the Network of Artists of Central America (RACA), the Cultural Center of Spain in Costa Rica (El Farolito) and Building Bridges Art Exchange.