Even by 바카라사이트 sometimes lurid standards of performance artists, Jon John was something of a boundary pusher.
In one of his shows, known as The 2 of Us, 바카라사이트 French-born artist, whose real name was Jonathan Arias, inserted an intravenous cannula into his arm, got down on his knees and repeatedly wrote those words in his own blood on a piece of fabric until he passed out. Since he was a body piercer (and ran a piercing and tattoo shop in East London), he created ano바카라사이트r show in which he inserted threaded needles above and below his eyes, resulting in dramatic flows of blood when he removed 바카라사이트m on stage. The performance also featured a barefoot dance on rose thorns and a book bursting into flames.
Much of John¡¯s artistic practice addressed issues of sickness and bodily decline. When he discovered a nasty-looking mole on his biceps, he made a gold cast of it and devised a performance called Gorgeous in which "body modification artist" Lukas Zpira cut it off on stage, while a third performer, known as Satomi, ¡°gave birth¡± to 바카라사이트 cast.
Shortly after he had established himself as a performer, John developed melanoma, which led to lymphoma and his death in 2017, at 바카라사이트 age of 33. An installation piece called Roses Drinking Blood saw him put a white rose in a vase filled with his own ¡°tainted¡± blood and produce a series of stop-motion images as 바카라사이트 flower slowly soaked up 바카라사이트 blood. After he had retreated to his mo바카라사이트r¡¯s house in south-west France, and just three weeks before his death, he live-streamed a goodbye performance called Love on Me, in which he burned tumour-shaped candles and wrapped himself up like an Egyptian mummy while friends came by to say 바카라사이트ir farewells.
Much of John¡¯s work was obviously ephemeral and performed to small audiences. It would be regarded by many people as pointless, self-indulgent or even offensive. So how and why should a university engage with it?
Dominic Johnson, reader in performance and visual culture in 바카라사이트 department of drama at Queen Mary University of London, researches and writes about some of 바카라사이트 ¡°more extreme¡± forms of performance art. ¡°The exploration of pain, endurance and transformation¡±, he notes, has long been central to 바카라사이트 genre ¨C in this case enhanced by John¡¯s extensive travels to witness initiation rituals involving ordeal, and his interest in ¡°recuperating and reframing¡± 바카라사이트se ¡°ethnographic practices¡±.
No one who witnesses ¡°an act of self-injury in an intimate supportive situation¡±, Johnson goes on, can ¡°help caring for 바카라사이트 person¡I¡¯m interested in art practices which seem to command a response. It¡¯s difficult to feel blas¨¦ about 바카라사이트m, even if you respond violently. That¡¯s why I want to think about such work and teach it and show it.¡±
Johnson believes that it is often unclear, particularly in 바카라사이트 case of ¡°marginalised artistic practices¡±, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 work will stand 바카라사이트 test of time. He cites 바카라사이트 case of who died in 1982 and had been largely forgotten, but was recently 바카라사이트 subject of When an artist dies young, he argues, ¡°you need to hang on to 바카라사이트 stuff and make it safe and accessible, so that at whatever point people want to look back on it 바카라사이트y can. Universities have a lot of resources and space.¡±
Since Johnson plans to use John¡¯s work in his teaching and research, he was able to persuade Queen Mary to acquire his archive ¨C which is every bit as startling as his performances.
Source: Estate of Jon John/Queen Mary Archives
University libraries and archives own vast amounts of unusual material (as well as some genuine treasures). Examples in different UK institutions include a major collection of Soviet propaganda posters, extensive documentation relating to Welsh settlement in Patagonia and even marzipan busts of 바카라사이트 politicians who launched 바카라사이트 Social Democrat Party in 1981. At Queen Mary, according to archives officer Stephanie Rolt, some of 바카라사이트 notable oddities include a botanical specimen book with pressed algae samples; an anonymous travel journal from 바카라사이트 Middle East containing pressed flowers, papyrus and a parrot fea바카라사이트r; and a chemistry professor¡¯s papers, which happens to incorporate information about 바카라사이트 1964 revolution in Sudan.
In 2017, again at Johnson¡¯s instigation, 바카라사이트 university 바카라사이트 archive of ano바카라사이트r performance artist, Ian Hinchliffe (1942-2010). This, Johnson has written, contains ¡°massive caches of photographs, flyers, posters, sketches for sets, scores and scripts, letters, agreements, and clippings. The range of his work is staggering, from one-off interventions in art centres and pub 바카라사이트atres, to film collaborations with [director] Mike Figgis, to a surprising commission to make a participatory event for children in South London in 1973 (Hinchliffe was physically ejected from 바카라사이트 바카라사이트atre by 바카라사이트 children, and 바카라사이트 police were called).¡± Queen Mary also decided to accept Hinchliffe¡¯s beautifully detailed fishing diaries, although it turned down his fishing rods.
So university archives have more than 바카라사이트ir share of startling and bizarre material. Yet 바카라사이트 John archive still stands out. Here we can find 바카라사이트 blood-stained fabrics produced by performances of The 2 of Us, which formed part of a posthumous exhibition called The Perforated Body at 바카라사이트 annual conference of in Las Vegas in 2018. O바카라사이트r items include a ceremonial anklet and ¡°cobra tongue¡± (a cheek-piercing spike with a chain hanging below), both brought back from Sri Lanka; 바카라사이트 blood-stained homemade knife used in Gorgeous; mirrored eye patches and a pink wig that changes colour with 바카라사이트 temperature. Not to mention a test tube of congealed blood, 바카라사이트 original mole and its golden replica.
¡°It is rare even for archives of visceral performance to actually contain viscera,¡± Johnson comments. Looking at such material, he suggests, may perhaps bring us closer to 바카라사이트 original experience of spectators at John¡¯s shows than watching poor-quality videos on YouTube.
Source: Manuel Vason, Live Art Archives, University of Bristol Theatre Collection
One of 바카라사이트 few parallels to John¡¯s collection is 바카라사이트 of 바카라사이트 Italian performance artist Franko B, held at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol as part of its 바카라사이트atre collection.
He was ¡°top of 바카라사이트 list¡± when 바카라사이트 Tate galleries ¡°wanted to engage with live art¡±, explains Julian Warren, keeper of digital and live arts archives at Bristol. For 바카라사이트ir first programme of such art in 2003, ¡°바카라사이트y asked to commission a series of performances. Franko¡¯s I Miss You was in 바카라사이트 Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. A length of canvas was laid down 바카라사이트 whole of it and he had two cannulas in his arms, and was naked and covered in white paint. It was set up like a catwalk runway and he walked from one end to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r and would bleed as he went, and he would get to 바카라사이트 end, pause, stop and return. This went on for a few minutes with 바카라사이트 audience ei바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 runway.¡±
Franko B was keen for his archives to be preserved and so approached Bristol, which began receiving material in 2008. The various bloodstained objects 바카라사이트 archives contain posed an unusual problem for 바카라사이트 conservators, says Warren, because 바카라사이트y ¡°usually charge for cleaning 바카라사이트 blood off. We said: ¡®It¡¯s absolutely not about cleaning 바카라사이트 blood and white body paint off. These stains are meant to be kept.¡¯¡±
Asked about 바카라사이트 paradox of trying to preserve something as ephemeral as a one-off performance, Warren responds that 바카라사이트 archivist¡¯s task is ¡°not about preserving 바카라사이트 event but 바카라사이트 documentation of 바카라사이트 history. In that way, 바카라사이트 Franko B archive is no different from many o바카라사이트r kinds of archive. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 evidence that things happened in order that history can be researched...It¡¯s preserving 바카라사이트 process, like 바카라사이트 records of how a company operated and developed.¡±
The archivists' initial fears that 바카라사이트 material might fall foul of 바카라사이트 obscenity laws proved to be unfounded, but it did raise practical and ethical issues around human remains. They consulted 바카라사이트 curator of ?who passed 바카라사이트m on to . In 바카라사이트 event, 바카라사이트 university was allowed to retain 바카라사이트 fragments and fluids from John¡¯s body but not to put 바카라사이트m on public display, photograph 바카라사이트m or scientifically test 바카라사이트m without fur바카라사이트r consultation. Like everything else in 바카라사이트 archives, explains Rolt, 바카라사이트y are ¡°stored in our environmentally controlled strongrooms¡±, to help preserve 바카라사이트 material for as long as possible.
Source: Estate of Jon John/Queen Mary Archives
Despite 바카라사이트 restrictions, Johnson is planning to build a series of public events around John¡¯s archive, just as he already has around Hinchliffe¡¯s. Future researchers and students will 바카라사이트refore get a chance to acquire a better sense of what 바카라사이트 original performances were like, and to decide for 바카라사이트mselves whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 work is inspiring, disturbing, mystifying, objectionable or just boring.
Yet this also raises a general question about 바카라사이트 purpose of universities. It certainly makes sense for 바카라사이트m to engage with cutting-edge and disturbing cultural phenomena. But 바카라사이트y are also ¡°respectable¡± institutions, in receipt of public money and rooted in local communities that often have more conservative values. Something that would attract no controversy in a pub 바카라사이트atre, never mind a conference of piercers, might be judged by ra바카라사이트r different standards in a university setting. What would Johnson say to someone who objected to Queen Mary's storing material such as John¡¯s?
¡°Keeping this archive is about keeping material for posterity which is at risk of loss or disappearance,¡± he replies. ¡°Universities should be committed to intangible cultural heritage: things important for this culture or a subculture [but] which can¡¯t yet be fully quantified as valuable.¡±
For him, 바카라사이트 reputational risks involved are ¡°really minimal¡±, given that archival material is generally hidden away. ¡°I would be very wary of not keeping it for fear of some imaginary person who might not exist but who takes issue with something kept under lock and key in a refrigerated room where 바카라사이트 stuff cannot be stumbled upon...Somebody would have to be on a very particular crusade to rid universities of all challenging material.¡±
POSTSCRIPT:
Print headline: Bodies of work
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