Our present cultural status seems to be marked by a sense of dismay, especially in gender roles but also in many other areas. Media information streams into our public and private spaces, saturating our collective consciousness with stories of old and new catastrophes. Some seem surf through the myriad of problems while others fixate on one of these calamities. We will be doing just that. These works will challenge and enhance the stereotypes associated with gender roles and more specifically the roles of gender in performances. What makes a performance a “gender performance?” this is a question for you to answer while watching and exploring these videos.
These artist are using their bodies in extreme and seemingly “different” ways to investigate gender while using the element of endurance. Endurance is used in these videos by the artists and how they pushed themselves beyond things that others may see and weird or unusual. As stated by William Faulkner …man will not merely endure. He will prevail… because he has a soul, a spirit capable of sacrifice and endurance.” These artist use there bodies as prop to their political, social or personal endeavors.
One thing we must take into consideration is the fact that the bodies of the artists are being used as props. In Serra’s performance he could be viewed as showing male strength or dominance with the depiction of his hand (the prop) grabbing these pieces of lead out of mid air. In another performance Pipilotti Rist is shown rubbing her face, quite violently against a clear panel. She is wearing extensive amounts of make-up, which is being worn off of her lips, cheeks and eyes. Her face is the entity that is holding this “icon” of the media and she is smearing it and rubbing it off in such a way that is rebelling against the social/popular norms.
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