Monkey Mask and A Morgue | 2016
Video Stills from 30 minute Performance/Happening

Monkey Mask and A Morgue is a 30 minute performance intended to activate disorientation in the audience by exposing them to appropriated silent autopsy footage (The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes, Stan Brackhage, 1971), multi-layered tones derived from meditative singing bowls, the scent of oregano, and a figure wearing a monkey mask and pink boa. The figure repeatedly climbs up a step stool and jumps off, pressing graphite sticks that she holds in each hand onto a piece of paper on the wall. This drawing ultimately becomes the only visual marker to reference the time that has passed. Viewers are presented with an abundance of unrelated sensory overload in an unlikely circumstance in attempt to promote subconscious formulation of new associations between the sounds, odors, and visual stimulation at hand. These conditions are created to initiate feelings of confusion and possible discomfort, and allows the audience to question whether they are viewing the performance or if by simply being present they become a part of the piece.