RULES OF THE SPACE: PLEASE READ BEFORE ENTERING

Welcome! You’re considering entering the world of THE BUCKTOOTHED F△GG⊙T. Here is what you need to know before making the choice to enter the space, in order for us to be free within the space. If you’re unable to consent, thank you for your interest, but this piece is not for you.

MASK. You will wear an N95, KN95, or surgical mask over your mouth and nose at all times so the performer may work unmasked. N95 masks are provided, if needed.

ILLNESS. If you’ve been sick within the past 10 days, please do not enter.

PHONES. Turn off or silence your cell phone and electronic devices. Allow yourself to completely enter another realm. No photos, video, or audio recording of any kind are permitted.

WEAPONS. No weapons of any kind are permitted in the space

ADULTS ONLY. You must be 18 or older to enter. This work contains depictions of nudity, sexuality, and violence.

ARCHIVES. This communal space may be professionally recorded for archival, promotional, future works, and funding purposes. You consent to the use of your voice, image, and images or text you leave in the space for these purposes.

Background

On January 19, 1919, ballet great Vaslav Nijinsky gave his final public performance, Wedding with God. He spoke the words, “Now I will dance the war, the war which you did not prevent and are also responsible for.” A pianist played Chopin’s Prelude for Piano, Op. 28: No. 20 in C Minor while Nijinsky waited for God to move him. He improvised his response to World War I: the carnage he’d seen, the experience he had as a political prisoner, and, most importantly for Nijinsky, his feeling about all of it.

This same day, he also began a diary that charted his mental state over the next three months, at the end of which he was institutionalized for what was diagnosed as schizophrenia. He spent the next thirty years in and out of institutions, never to dance publicly again.

On January 19, 2025, 106 years to the moment that Nijinsky’s final performance began, in the midst of war and sociopolitical upheaval, I will begin THE BUCKTOOTHED F△GG⊙T (or THE NIJINSKY INCANTATION). This 27-hour durational performance expands upon 2023’s THE WALL, itself performed for 27 hours at The 1300 Gallery at 78th Street Studios. THE WALL was supported by The Satellite Fund administered by SPACES, and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program. It was co-produced by myself and Ohio City Theatre Project.

THE BUCKTOOTHED F△GG⊙T (or THE NIJINSKY INCANTATION) is an act of Solve et Coagula: dissolving something into its smallest pieces to coagulate them into a higher, integrated whole. This communal incantation is born from automatic writings recorded on a wall in my studio during my 18-month pandemic lockdown. The result is a raw, intimate, dreamlike transmutation of sexuality and Self exploring fascism’s effect on the individual and society, and patterns of marginalization of the Queer population that we then take into ourselves and hopefully learn to undo: learn to trust our own beings, impulses, and desires. Its raw vulnerability and immersive reflection is a journey of acceptance toward the wholeness of ourselves, and each other, before our time is through.

THE BUCKTOOTHED F△GG⊙T (or THE NIJINSKY INCANTATION) is brought to life through homoerotic paintings, photography, audio, video, and what the space inspires you to leave behind, with my shapeshifting performance between self and character at the nexus of this living art experience. Each performance, and the space, are an improvised, intuitive action painting layering atop and adding texture to what came before. The performance is influenced by who and what is in the space from moment to moment. In here, memories are tied together through the logic of feelings. It comes at a time of societal transformation. The space will serve as a record of, and solace from, this inflection point in American history.

Where do I end? Where do you begin? And what happens in between? What happens when we embrace our present experience over linear story and time, to step completely into the unknown together? On the razor’s edge of the moment.

Artist Statement

My art is a raw and unapologetic dedication to truth as a human who encounters marginalization in today’s society. It is a response to the aggression and division of sociopolitical narratives, institutions, people, and technologies artificially dividing the individual from themself and collective well-being. My gesture is to reach the collective soul in an act of emotional healing to free ourselves and embrace our common humanity. While it may vary in form, the foundation of my process is intuitive movement of the body. Psychophysical explorations connect me to the truth of my body by opening a gateway to sensations, emotions, and image, bringing the unconscious to the conscious. These improvisations result in confessional to camp text, drawings, paintings, and illustrations, as well as video, audio, photography, characters, and states of being that unite in performance installations. Through performance rooted in transparency and vulnerability combined with the atmosphere we occupy, I create space for the sacred and the profane, confronting the complexities of identity and its place in society. The resulting intimacy invites the passive observer into authentic interaction, creating a true event between us that ignites connection on the soul level. Together, we ride the intersection between the personal and the political, forming a bridge between our inner and outer worlds. Freedom and expression of truth are recurring themes in my work, arising from the repression that we often face. I draw inspiration from Expressionism, the Weimar Republic, 1960s and ’70s pop culture, superheroes, and homoeroticism, as these have fought against repression and inspire liberation in thinking and being. Through my art, I inspire others to embody, feel, accept, and connect, leading to personal transformations affecting society.

THE BUCKTOOTHED F△GG⊙T (or THE NIJINSKY INCANTATION) expands upon 2023’s THE WALL, performed for 27 hours at The 1300 Gallery at 78th Street Studios. THE WALL was supported by The Satellite Fund administered by SPACES, and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program. It was co-produced by Caspio and Ohio City Theatre Project.