Collaboration with Andrew Bahrou
Airistocrat is a performance that inwardly and playfully explores the observation that our degraded ecology is rooted in a combination of a prevailing paradigm in which humans possess entitled dominion over the natural (and, for some, social) world AND the socioeconomic means to exercise that world view. The visual focus is a fashion sculpture – an inflatable, absurdly-oversized, cloud-like collar to emphasize the importance of air pollution and atmospheric greenhouse gases. The wearer’s embellished hair and make-up reference 18th century French aristocratic fashion. To further critique our own participation in environmental and art elitism as well as socioeconomic disparity, a second performer dressed in work coveralls and gloves painstakingly lays, collects, and re-lays red fabric tiles at the Airistocrat’s bidding to leisurely walk upon stopping at points of interest, paving way for access and expansion.
Performers: Andrew Bahrou and Jacklyn Brickman
Venue: Overclocked Exhibition Reception, Hopkins Hall Gallery 2018
Footage Captured by: Brynne McGregor