All TENs unit performances took place with the help of a homemade shocker device named "The Hand of God" that was strapped to the performer's arm; effectively disabling it and producing erratic motions due to the varied pulses emitted.
"Hand of God"
/ A Haemorrhaging Sense of Self Experience /
A Haemorrhaging sense of self-experience is a meditation on the acceptance of inevitable failure, and the spectacular damage that that can inflict physically and interpersonally. It is about watching yourself alter the figurative objects around you, while being completely unable to prevent it.
The performance commences with a beautifully prepared table that slowly becomes splattered in red wine as I attempt to carefully pour liquid into the glasses while my arm is being electrically shocked. I then take some time to contemplate the mess I made.
This piece was performed twice - at an intimate gathering in 2020, and then again at Bar Bifteck in 2021.
/ Meeting JP Again /
The concept for this performance (2019) came together while thinking about who would be the most painful person for me to draw. The first person I could think of was my estranged best friend and former partner. A fan of rituals and performance, they kindly agreed to show up at the designated performance location.
The performance started with me wearing the shocker on my arm as a way to mediate between physical and emotional discomfort - with the point of view that physical/ external discomfort can ease internal discomfort and to question the utility of masochism.
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Although the use of the shocker was a welcome distraction from the gaze of the audience as well as my portrait subject - I discovered that JP seemed more distressed and in pain than I was. They requested that I instead place the shocker on them - as watching me wear it was becoming upsetting for them. I agreed, effectively altering the dynamics of the performance.
Portrait of JP
The performance ultimately concluded in a shared empathetic response - where the person in physical pain, was comforting the person who wasn't. This was marked with an embrace.