Otherways

Taking the lose form of a performance, Fugazza poetically touches upon a number of routines and patterns which are informed by oral fixation and ingestion, subsequently re-directing us to spaces of interiority to the point that reactions of indivisual bodies became palpable dimensions of the artist’s practice. 

As the performance starts, the lights are dimmed lights and participants each receive a small porcelain sculpture to hold in their mouth, an act familiar to taking a pill- be it a psychedelic, antidepressant or antibiotic. As the porcelain pieces differ from another, their structure almost feels like detached teeth, alien structures or dislocated extensions. Bodies react imitating the side effects of those drugs. Vulnerable bodies salivate, distract and adapt. Mouths are numb, communication is cracked. Behind this lies a singular, profound relationship to time, observation and a deep awareness of one’s body in the process of spectating. 

Fugazza’s works are genuinely personal, yet celestially comprehended. Familiarity is always felt. Though everything feels natural, disruption is at the core. 

Extract from the text by Canan Batur for the catalogue of “Bastard Voices”, Baltic Triennal 13.

Water from the Waist Down, was a a ritualistic event that took place at Kunstalle Oslo in 2018. It combined the film work Star Messenger by Marie Kølbæk Iversen with a percussion performance by Diana Policarpo and the series of mouth sculptures Other Ways by Gaia Fugazza.