THE ARCHIVE OF
Buwan Performance Project
Catharsis
THUMBNAILS OF WORKS ONLY SHOWN
Live from 21 November 2020 to 19 December 2020
Buwan Performance Project consists of a monthly series of multidisciplinary performance-based artworks from varying young artists. The collective name, Buwan, means month and moon in Filipino and it symbolises time, energy, change and rhythm.
This is the last cycle of 2020. The artists of Catharsis have been curated by Buwan and Nadhirah Khalid, a collaboration between the NAFA and Lasalle Fine Art graduates for this showcase. The artists: Aneesha Shetty, Arrvinraj, Aryan Arora, Laura Pelea, Nadhirah Khalid, Soo Mei Fei and Sophia Dominguez have embodied the emotional discharge of catharsis for the reach of renewal and liberation.
Receding Rings
by Aneesha Shetty
2020
Performance for film
8 min 15 sec
‘Receding Rings’ seeks to trace the mind’s sub-consciousnesses through the formation of circular forms that purges the self’s inner and external conflicts. Inspired by the configurations of patterns used in ritualistic practices that observe circles, an ancient symbol as a representation of sacred wholeness seen in beehive cells, mandalas, chalices, the sun, and moon. The work explores how the self confronts its insecurities through the spoken and visual landscapes of its mind. Markings materialize its presence seeking to reveal the value of returning to age-old practices of establishing protective boundaries to allow the body to heal and search for solace amid the accelerated pace of urban living.
Detach
by Arrvin
2020
Performance for video
Layer over the layer,
Suffocated by the fresh norm
People reveal themselves under the mask
Amend the new way of breathing
Detach from the familiarity
The day before became yesteryear
Millions yearning for subsist
In this chaotic routine
Attach to the convention
Inhale the filtered dream
Stand still in this regular season
A love letter to the Departed
by Aryan Arora
2020
Performance Art
In loving memory of Dinanath Arora
The Performance is all about hugging a soul. One hug full of sad, happy, angry emotions, a hug as a means to vent out, a hug to say a final Goodbye.
When you hug someone the chest and stomach of one person collides with the chest and stomach of the other person, and that is what this performance strives to do.
The performance is divided into three parts:-
1) The performance starts with my Grandfather's letters written to me, being pasted on a canvas, where I reply to him by writing a final letter to him in ink.
2) I would then want to put paint on my shirt, each gesture of putting paint showing various emotions I feel and I go through.
3) Part 3 of the performance- ACCEPTANCE is where after applying paint to my shirt i go to the canvas and hug the canvas. Where my chest and my stomach collide with the letters on the canvas and I start the process of Catharsis
The performance finishes after my long hug and final goodbye to my grandfather is finished. Where I wanted the remanence to have a human trace. The canvas filled with letters shall always have a human body imprint on it, where this performance is a means to create a never ending hug. The performance is my way of finally accepting my grandfather's new journey. Where it makes me feel vulnerable, frustrated, sad, angry all at one time, but one last hug is my catharsis to take out all those emotions at once
What might I do? Where might I go?
by Laura Pelea
2020
Performance for Video
Revolving with the theme of arbitrariness from its differing folklores – Stressed? Anxious? Sexually aroused? Perhaps restless? Or simply just tired of waiting… waiting for the right time. The right time for? The right time for “something” to happen. The work consists of a performance for video from an everyday, perhaps mundane, cathartic gesture of one’s body part in means of releasing “something” from the individual’s subconsciousness.
GRWM (semiotics of the bathroom)
by Nadhirah Khalid
2020
Performance for Video
22nd Century re-make of Martha Rosler’s, Semiotics of the Kitchen.
Drawing from her personal experiences with disordered eating and body dysmorphia; Nadhirah’s work offers as biting commentary on the harmful impact and influence that social media has on one’s body and one’s self.
Mirroring Rosler’s critique of gender roles, Nadhirah’s work attempts to critique the production, consumption and commodification of female bodies over the Internet - specifically social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. Arguably the two most notorious platforms that are responsible in perpetuating toxic ideals of the female body.
Alluding to GRWM videos in both title and format was intentional in subverting the medium altogether - instead of allowing it to influence the way she looks at her self and her body, she employs this medium and narrative to prompt self-reflection and act as a site for self-healing and self-authorship of her own body. In performing (and poking fun at) gendered conventions with aggressive motions, a deadpan expression ; Nadhirah is able to find cathartic release from the pressures of society.
‘GRWM’ is an acronym for Get Ready With Me - a popular YouTube vlog format wherein a YouTuber shows their followers their daily routine to “get ready” for the day, or to prep for an event. It is typically adopted by famous YouTubers and Influencers to endorse/market makeup products, skincare or clothing to their followers.
pressure/pleasure
by Soo Mei Fei
PHOTOS UPLOADED DAILY
2020
Video and Performance
Catharsis denotes the space between pressure and pleasure. In this work, the artist re-looks at her relationship with dermatillomania, or skin picking disorder. It begins as an instinct to smoothen out the unease caused by uneven bumps on her skin, and subsequently unravels into hour long sessions of obsessively picking at her skin, scrutinizing the entire skin surface area for unevenness, and picking at areas of skin that might be perfectly fine, to the point of inflammation and scarring.
The skin becomes marked by the obsessions of the mind.
The artist recreates this experience through an exterior body, using the sewing machine to create stitches on a piece of fabric in an orderly, automatic action. Following that, the artist unpicks the stitches, as an attempt to curb the urges of picking at her skin, and as reconciliation with her disorder.
Unspoken Words
by Sophia Dominguez
2020
Performance
Dominguez performs a spoken word on assault and censorship.
The indecipherable words are muffled with the phallic object. A time of healing through navigation of words and recollection. This performance signifies the struggle of speaking out, and even with speaking out, the struggle to be heard coming from a body that is of a minority.