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"(Gotta)
Keep it up!" a multimedia
performance by screaMachine features a set of dumbbells
with 7" TV screens as the weights. These screens
are wireless, showing two synchronized videos transmitted
from nearby stations. The artist attempts to hold
the dumbbells over his head for the entire length
of the video content. A thin wire connects the bar
of the dumbbells, via a pulley mounted overhead,
to the artist's genitals. Lowering the dumbbells
would cause a wire noose to tighten and emasculate
him. The artist must maintain his macho stance in
order to preserve his masculinity. Mass media images
of virility and male stereotyping play on the TV
screens, supported by a pair of audio tracks.
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The length
of the performance is determined by the length of the
two synced videos which are designed to last just longer
than the artist could feasibly hold the dumbbells overhead.
The artist's natural instinct to protect his genitals,
and the psychological pressure generated by the media
clips for him to maintain his macho stance, create
an untenable position. |
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Two
video projectors, set opposite each other, light
the performer with the
same images visible on the TV screens. These images,
which wrap around his body, dancing on his naked
flesh, are not readable, but are recognizable as
parts of the TVs' images by their movements and
colors. He is clad in this elusive iconography
and weighted down by their distinct (TV) counterparts.
The performer must "keep it up", a term
associated with paranoid fears of erectile dysfunction
and premature ejaculation. As long as he can "keep
it up" he retains his public image, in full
knowledge that it can only last so long. While
many men get away with deceiving onlookers and
even the closest of friends and lovers of their
machismo, the performer must eventually concede
failure to his audience and verbally request that
he be released from his burden. An audience member,
hopefully, acquiesces and cuts the wire with a
nearby pair of snips. The performer may then lower
his dumbbells and exit the area.
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