top of page
Iconography of the Vulnerable Self: Score III
Wienwoche Festival, Otto Wagner Spital, Vienna (2019)

Photos courtesy of Kelechi Obirieze

In this score:

I hide behind a window panel propped against the balcony railing. Lift it up and move along the railing. I climb up the railing and slide my legs through the railing to perch on top of it. I hold a square mirror to apply lipstick as people are looking up from the garden. I hold that pose for a while. As the audience gathers in the room accessing the balcony, I hide behind a venetian blind that covers the windows leading to the balcony. I violently open and close the shutters, allowing a quick glimpse through the blind. When I pull the blind up completely, I meet the audience holding a mirror that covers my genitalia. I lift the mirror up and down as to deflect the audience's gaze and reflect different parts of their bodies onto mine. I invite the audience to follow me and walk to one corner of the balcony holding up the mirror and looking back at the audience through it. I position the mirror on the corner of the railing and hide behind a medical partition. Here, I grab a smaller mirror and attach it to cover my genitalia. I pop a funnel into my mouth and dive on the floor, pushing myself through the audience with my back rubbing on the floor. I reach a metallic cage that has a mirror mounted on. Inside the cage, I recite a short poem I wrote on visibility, safety and dysphoria as I compulsively apply make-up. I release myself from the cage and direct myself to a mosquito net frame, sticking out of the balcony railing. I ask two audience members to help me slide it out and hold it while I use the cord attached to the net to tuck my genitalia. The more I roll up the net, the more my penis is hidden. I lift up the frame and walk off.

more from this series:
IMG_4347.jpg
Screenshot_2019-07-06_at_23.47.jpg
bottom of page