Performances





Want to be free



Performing inside the installation constructed with VHS on the floor and stretched out video tape film as a stage. I performed this piece blindfolded to the hidden sound of music.
This piece was performed at the San Francisco Art Institute during the MFA exhibition on 2016, during the opening reception to the public.
Want to Be Free is a performance where I play with the public’s gaze, as they have no restrictions to see me dance, but they are not allowed to hear the music I dance to.

On this one occasion I lost a shoe, but kept going for the full 10 minutes as participants viewed my moving body and the breaking of the structure underneath my feet. The video tapes on the floor ranged from Spanish movies, such as Cantinflas (known for his sexual advancements to women in movies--but never acknowledged as such, he is known as a comedian of the golden age of Mexico's film era), to 80-90s popular U.S. movies, most common imagery where women seen as servants and sexual objects for the public's delight.




trapped in my freedoms



This is a clip of a performance which is part of the Encapsulated series, the piece last up to 10 minutes. Encapsulated is one of my first explorations in performance where I began to blindfold my eyes, as a choice to play with “the gaze.” The viewers are witness to the loud, wood pounding heels, that I make a point to break through with my presence and sound--present and implied both.

This piece is about having the freedom to do whatever I want, yet, feeling trap in my own freedoms (quite literately). The use of the phallus like canopy is in direct relation to the implied freedoms that are often granted, but once executed, I must face a different reality.





A-Men



A-Men is a video documentation of a performance where I feed myself a sacred object. This piece can be presented both as a video or as a live performance. As a not practicing catholic, I still hold strong affinity for my inherited religion. When viewers realized what the white disk that I so obsessively devoured in the same motion of one who compulsively eats M&Ms—their first concern is always on the sanctity of the wafers. I don’t always reveal the origin of the communion wafers or if they have been previously blessed. This hint of mystery adds to the piece and its message, that I as woman have to reconcile the notion that we cannot be priests and offer the body of Christ.



Encapsulada/Encapsulated



Open lotus flower, elongated petals—protruding from its heart, a sheer phallocentric tube I live in it encapsulated. Erected by my presence I move about in the freedom that dancing allows me I proceed to a playful inner space. The soft material resembles an unlubricated condom, this provocation on reversing the roles of control and controller, as a
feminist who challenges others who hold the same title—women
objectification is a powerful flower to live in.
My body, my views, my capsule to move in as I wish—object of
self-indulgence shares her nectar.





These Flags



In resent times with the rise of a new government, falsehood has augmented with the use of one word "unite." What does it really mean to be united when there is so much division? These Flags is a performance piece that plays with the idea of togetherness, with the use of different entities the United States, the Mexican, and the peace flags. These two countries that often behave as separate worlds will be merged together with hand sewn stitches. Through this performance all three flags become a single one, which brings these bordering countries to an implicit peaceful agreement with the use of the white flag a symbol of peace or defeat. The material adorned with their patriotic emblems are used to dress, cares, and punish my body. I am Mexican born Naturalized American, my allegiance is to both countries, as a Mexican-American. Most of my current existence is to navigate in the in-between, the white material represents the union of both countries. This allows for a place of peaceful gathering, as neighbors that get a long. Unfortunately this is not the reality that we live, but surely the desire by millions of people on both countries.



©2017 by Cristina Velázquez