Here is documentation of a live performance piece exhibited at the De Young Museum (San Francisco) in 2006:
Both of these pieces may have been developed in collaboration with fellow members of the group La Pocha Nostra.
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In this first piece by Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Instant Identity Ritual, the artist directly exhibits the extreme action of consuming a bottle of his favorite hot sauce for his audience. This piece directly references the “jackass” spectacle of triumphantly drinking a bottle of hot sauce, but Gómez-Peña is doing more than just reiterating a spectacle we can watch on television every day; he is commenting on issues of identity. When watching this video, the identity that Gómez-Peña is portraying is ultimately confusing- he is a Latino man, wearing a studded, leather jacket, drinking hot sauce while hardcore metal music blares in the background. The leather jacket and metal music references a white, American subculture, while his racial identity and the hot sauce references Latin-American culture. But the lyrics of the metal music are incomprehensible, and while I assume it is American music, it could be Mexican metal music. I assume the hot sauce is a Mexican brand, but it could be manufactured anywhere. The blending of these two cultural references indicates a hybrid, globalized identity within the art community, as Gómez-Peña indicates in his essay, Culturas-In-Extremis; “Borders and identities are now interchangeable, and so are the nationalities and genders of the new enfants terribles. It’s nomadism for sale, gentrified ethnicity, glossy hybridity and chic radicalism to be experienced first hand.” (Gómez-Peña 296). Gómez-Peña highlights the interchangeability of our identities as we mix and match our cultures, however we see fit, to exhibit our extreme spectacles for our audiences. The act of drinking the hot sauce, his literal consumption of this culturally referenced commodity, further indicates a metaphor for this global consumption/interchangeability.
ReplyDeleteThe second piece also comments on the hybridity of cultural identity, but is instead highlighting the appropriation of identity within the context of a museum or gallery setting. Instead of a disorienting blend of identity, Gómez-Peña indicates a staunch position within the white museum setting- he is perched on a pedestal, positioned between other artworks, creating a spectacle for his audience as he both holds a machine gun and has the machine gun pointed directly at his crotch. Gómez-Peña states that, “Powerful, ‘international’ curators and art critics have effectively depoliticized the border paradigm and the discourse on hybridity, therefore mixing things up is now quite trendy.” (Gómez-Peña 296). He is drawing attention to the violent, white appropriation of the trendy, cultural “other,” within the context of the art world. He further complicates his contextual position by first holding the gun to himself before it is held to his crotch by someone else, indicating that he (and/or his culture) has been an accomplice, in a sense, to this appropriation.
-Kate Brandt
The first video depicts performance artist Guillermo Gomez-Pena drinking his favorite salsa (or hot sauce) straight out of the bottle. Even though he says it is his favorite, the viewer can tell because he starts the video by displaying the salsa bottle and showing his affection towards it with his body language. It is interesting because the viewer is unable to view the brand. This shifts the focus from the salsa to the artist who is about to drink the whole bottle. Right off the bat the artist, who seems to be Mexican, just looks to be showing off the bottle. This would be a somewhat like a TV commercial; however, it is much more than that. Guillermo Gomez-Pena is taking it to the extreme. “Independent filmmakers and video artists now must contend with television ads and rock videos whose aesthetic strategies are directly appropriated from independent film and experimental video but with a few small differences: they are twice as technically complex and their budgets are logarithmically bigger.” (p. 288). The artist seems to be taking this ad-like video into his own hands considering he is working entirely in a different manner than an ad agency or television show would be.
ReplyDeleteThe second video works with this idea of “taking it to the extreme” once again. The artist does a live performance at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. He has placed himself into this setting as just another piece for people to look at yet he is able to interact with another figure and is able to move. This stirs up some tension in the viewers. As you can see the viewers glance over, then stop to figure out what is going on. It is still interesting to see how many people will stop to look yet no one will approach the artwork for fear that they may become part of the performance. It is the younger viewers that will take a step forward out of curiosity. “It’s like a live computer game with the added excitement that people, “real people,” are watching. (p. 290). It seems like this is what most of our society has turned into because of the media. Everyone has become so enthralled with television and the Internet that they lose sight of what is considered to be real.
-Amanda White
In the first video – “Instant Identity Ritual” – Guillermo Gómez-Peña performs against what he dubs the “mainstream bizarre,” the “culturas-in-extremis.” In this realm, especially in mass media and the internet, “’radical’ behavior, revolution-as-style, and ‘extreme’ images […] have become daily entertainment.” (Gómez-Peña, 287) He begins by lovingly kissing a bottle of what he later introduces as his favorite hot sauce. He looks – almost angrily – at the camera as he opens the bottle. Punk/Metal/Screamo music begins to blare and he chugs most of the bottle, letting out an extended sigh of satisfaction. With this image, he seems to be commenting on a stereotypical, outside view of Mexican identity while criticizing similar media that is devoid of “meaning” – form without substance.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the video, Gomez-Pena pulls a ski-mask with the initials EZLN haphazardly written on the forehead. What I am not so sure of, though, is whether or not he is criticizing or supporting the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and its roots in traditional Mayan practices along with anarchist and libertarian socialist movements. The article would lead me to believe that he is against popular or politicized “extremes” such as a movement which was originally founded to instigate a revolution in Mexico. In addition, the way that he parodies the Rage Against The Machine-esque (whom are vocal supporters of the EZLN) “extreme” music in the video would support that theory, as well. However, he seems to share the “Anglo”-critical views of the group as evidenced in some of his performances in which he says he want to “heighten the features of fear and desire in the Anglo imagination” and to “reveal a new relationship between […] the brown body and the white voyeur.” (Gómez-Peña, 297-298) Nevertheless, as an outsider myself, I couldn’t begin to understand the complexities of that group or the peoples of Mexico.
The second video featured Gómez-Peña as a living exhibit – an “artificial savage” – on display at a museum. (Gómez-Peña, 297) His attire seems to indicate that this character is a result of colonialism brought upon by violence or threat expressed by a man pointing a gun at him for most of the video. What is most interesting, though, is where the gun is being pointed. With the gun being pointed at his crotch, it is almost as if his future children are even in danger from this unnamed threat. All the while, the museum-goers feign interest and shortly walk away. This seems to suggest the passing interest that the outside world has with issues of past and present Mexican identity in this modern, “extreme” culture.
In Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s piece Instant Identity Ritual he enacts a commercial mainstream stereotype of a Mexican man. This piece articulates the difficulty of using irony in the mainstream bizarre. As Gómez-Peña states: “If we choose to mimic or parody the strategies of the mainstream bizarre in order to develop new audiences and explore the Zeitgeist of our times, what certainty do we have that our high-definition reflection won’t devour us from inside out and turn us into the very stylized freaks we are attempting to deconstruct or parody?” (p. 288)
ReplyDeleteThis piece is dependent on a number of ingrained stereotypes about Mexican-American men. First, we need to assume that he is a Mexican man. Because he is a Mexican man we assume he loves hot sauce, and he is macho. By drinking the entire bottle of hot sauce he enacts those stereotypes. He then pulls on the ski mask, bringing to mind the costumes of Mexican wrestlers. This type of macho Mexican character appears often in mainstream media from “side-kick” roles in film, to commercials for taco bell. This is a difficult question for any performance artist to answer; how is reenactment and parody possible with out reinforcing a stereotype?
The documentation of the Real Faces performance staged in the De Young Museum in San Francisco is most compelling because of the lack of audience participation. Gómez-Peña, dressed as an early Spanish crusader (I am assuming based on his outfit) is held at gun point by a white woman in a leather jacket (maybe dressed as a cowboy). The gun is pointed at his penis, as if threatening to emasculate him. The audience walking by seems largely unaffected, or maybe scared to stop and look. I think this has to do with what Gómez-Peña describes as the desensitizing of the public, “images of racialized violence and sexual hybridity have become daily entertainment, mere marketing strategies of a new corporate chic” (p. 287) Just as we have learned to tune out the shock tactics used in commercials, we have learned to tune out shocking images we see in public.
Anna Helgeson
Guillermo Gomez-Pena covers some interesting ground in “Instant Identity Ritual”. The artist displays himself in a cowboy jacket with a bottle of hot salsa that he proclaims his love for and then begins to consume. Initially I find myself believing that he is referencing a Mexican identity, but then heavy metal music begins playing which throws off the stereotypical Mexican identity. Gomez-Pena becomes “extreme” as he downs the contents of the salsa. He then puts on a ski-mask with the letters EZLN across the face. Not knowing what the letters stood for at first, I initially assumed it referenced the music playing or an extreme organization of some sort. Either way it continues to transform and complicate the artist’s identity making the edges blurred. “Borders and identities are now interchangeable, and so are nationalities and genders of the new enfants terribles.” (296)
ReplyDeleteIn the second piece the artist is once again using extremes to get a point across. The artist brings a sense of violence by the use of a machine gun, which is then turned on him. The outfits worn by both performers are radically different believed to reference hostility between ethnic groups. As the audience in the museum recognizes the scene, they stop for a moment and then continue passing by as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Violence and extremes have become so mainstream the audience seems uninterested and ready to move on to the next thing. “And, as inattentive spectators, we have clearly lost our capability to empathize with them and feel outraged by the violent causes that impacted on them.” (294) As audiences we have been bombarded with scenes of violence and extreme actions that we no longer blink at the thought of it, and this piece is a great display of that numbness developed in our society.
-Kelly
The fascination of the bizarre is something that has become an everyday occurrence like images of the video of Guillermo Gomez-Pena drinking a bottle of salsa picante. This instantly makes him identified with that particulare act due to the bizarre nature of it. This video is similar to the bizarre and humorous videos we see on youtube.com that can get "instant" recognition and develop an identity for the individual that produced it. In the article Gomez-Pena writes that "Boredum sinks in, and everybody searches for the next "extreme" image or experience.' This is a true statement with our society as we are always trying to "one up" the act we did previously for entertainment purposes. These bizarre acts and usage of the "instant" recognition is used by individuals to become famous in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteGomez-Pena goes on to write about "Citizen participation is encouraged, but not in any significant decision-making process that may effect social change, just in the construction and staging of spectacle; the great spectacle of the illusion of citzen participation." Society has this nice facade that makes it look as though we as a society are able to voice out what we think but what really comes of it? For the most part nothing, if some act (political/social) was to be changed it woudl be something insignificant to put on this spectavle of false citizen participation. My thought on how this all comes together is that we can put on a bizarre act that will get the attention of everyone around us but will it really change life around us when we are starting to become fascinated with these bizarre acts in the first place to where they are becoming the norm.
Alex Ninneman
Gomez-Pena's first piece, I feel, is a little over my head. I get that he's drinking his favorite hot sauce, I like the audio editing and how it synches up to him slamming it down his throat. What is this piece trying to tell me? That he's a little offbeat, throws caution to the wind, deliberate, perhaps a bad-ass? He doesn't finish the bottle, though ... Not bad enough to kill all of his favorite picante sauce. The leather jacket, his slow, deliberate action, the whole ensamble gives me a feeling that he is trying to showcase this side of himslef easily and without a lot of fuss. It is just what I'd expect from the internet, this type of video could be found all over the internet, people doing outrageous stunts to gain recognition. The audio editing is what sews it together for me, the screaming only furthers the bad-ass feeling I think he's trying to promote.
ReplyDeletethe second video escapes me, he is dressed in what looks to be some kind of religious garb and carrying an automatic rifle, which his partner then turns to aim at him. He is directly looking at her at times with his hands raised above his head or held behind his head in a possible act of surrender? I can understand public performance art and it's motives to an extent, but I think I'm missing the point of this one. His partner, assistant, what have you is somehow the aggressor in this act, although she is positioned below him. The weapon is not aimed at his head or his belly, but around his pelvic region, perhaps speaking to masculine dominated religious culture? I don't know if he is to be considered a religious aggressor being cut down for supposed beliefs or a religious freedom fighter soon to be made a martyr. The male and female roles could perhaps play a role in this work, I would like to know what section of the museum this was staged in, it could shed more light on to the religious issues he's touching upon. The editing is also a factor that I cannot overlook. Sometimes cutting from one scene to another and then looping itself near the end of the flick. While it's blatant enough to notice, I cannot help but feel this editing was probably an afterthought only discovered in the editing room, I do not feel that it brings anything more to the piece other than succinclty summing up the live performance.
field lehmann
I think that in Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s Instant Identity Ritual, the artist works to parody the stereotype of Mexican masculinity. He drinks his favorite hot sauce as a rite of passage which I read as the artist’s way of internalizing the ethnic stereotypes imposed on his body. His jacket also reflects such stereotypes; it is normal mariachi attire. Although I cannot understand the lyrics in the music played, I am aware that heavy metal is popular in Mexico and there are successful heavy metal bands from Mexico. With this in mind, I assume that the music is also of Mexican origin. Finally, he pulls a ski mask over his face that references the zapatista movement in Mexico during the mid-1990s. He effectively uses these objects of Mexican culture to present his own identity as “other” and all of these cues reference masculinity. In this ritual, his “otherness” is a spectacle for the audience, an assumed non-Mexican audience considering that he speaks in English. What is most interesting about this performance is that while he uses these cues to exemplify the stereotype of Mexican masculinity, the cues that he has chosen are not necessarily recognizable as specifically Mexican. What results in this performance is Gómez-Peña working to “...problematize this neo-retro-colonial praxis...” rather than work within the current trends of multiculturalism. (296)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anna that in his performance at De Young Museum, the second performer holding the gun to his crotch seems to be a threat of emasculation. His initial posture during this is one of surrender, with arms raised, but that turns into a Christ-like pose with his arms outstretched. If the interpretation of emasculation is correct, then his position within the gallery as an exhibit with a sacrificial pose can be read as a critique of the art institution’s new wave of “internationalism”. Perhaps the artist interprets this ism as a threat to the non-western artist’s identity. An artwork might be exhibited simply because of an artist’s nationality or ethnicity rather than based on artistic merit. He is on display initially by his own choice but there is a shift where he is then held against his will at gunpoint. “In this new ball game, more than ever, artists are at the mercy of the global curator, critic, and/or producer.” (295)
-amber parsons
In the first video by Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Instant Identity Ritual, we see a middle aged Hispanic man slamming a bottle of Mexican hot sauce while listening to hardcore punk rock music. I would say that this performance is weird or even stupid. It is somewhat revolting and disgusting to me, but in context of contemporary television and media, this is fairly mild, no pun intended. According to Pena, “Alternative thought, fringe subculture, and so called radical behavior, as we knew them, have actually become the mainstream”(Pena, 161). I take this to mean that there is nothing that is taboo or unmentionable, everything is fair game. This type of entertainment is evident in the shock and awe programs such as “Jackass”, Jerry Springer, and Howard Stern. Pena is making the point that in today society, a Hispanic man slamming hot sauce is just as entertaining and valid as mainstream programming. It’s all entertainment right?
ReplyDeleteIn the second piece by Pena, I got the feeling that the artist was surrendering to the man with the machine gun, as well as his surroundings. “In this new ball game, more than ever, artists are at the mercy of the global curator, critic, and/or producer.” (295) The way he postures himself in the gallery space (elevated from the floor and arms outstretched) makes me feel like this is a type of Christ-like sacrifice. I wonder if the artist himself is being sacrificed for personal beliefs or if he is referencing the state of performance art itself in contemporary media. I think a little of both.
Patrick Walter
One of the main ideas that Gomez-Pena solidifies in his article is that mainstream culture has incorporated what was previously believed to be “extreme” and “dangerous,” stating, “…we can say that there are no margins left, at least no recognizable ones” (287). The sense of spectacle surrounding actions or ideas considered to be radical has now become commonplace; even desired and sought out. From what I can see of Gomez-Pena’s performance piece at the DeYoung Museum, it seems to serve as a prime example for his argument, whether or not he intended it to be so. By placing himself in the space of a very traditional art gallery and putting himself on display with the static art of the space, he creates a definitive and obvious difference between himself and the artwork, calling attention to his presence as something “extreme” or “radical” in comparison. His gestures and those of the woman performing with him further his marginable actions as they exhibit violence and strong emotion. I don’t know what is occurring behind the placement of the camera, but I can deduce that there is no crowd of people watching him. The museum-goers continue to pass through the gallery, either not noticing Gomez-Pena or only looking at him for a few seconds before turning their heads and continuing to walk by. Only once did I see evidence of curiosity in a woman who stops for maybe 10 seconds to watch him. The only reason for the patrons’ actions that can be inferred from this situation is that his performance is boring to them, or familiar in some way. These reactions show the inability of actions that were once considered outrageous to spark any feeling or interest in a viewer because of the mainstream culture’s shift towards the extreme. Gomez-Pena’s performance is no longer considered marginal since the general public witnesses a multitude of “images of racialized violence and sexual hybridity” that “have become daily entertainment, mere marketing strategies of a new corporate chic” (287).
ReplyDeleteIn his piece Instant Identity Ritual Gomez-Pena seems to be speaking to his ideas in his article that it is becoming difficult for performance artists to grab attention “against the backdrop of the mainstream bizarre” (297). Performance artists must take on “extreme” identities today in order to convey their ideas. This is also due to the increasing transference of global media and its effect of allowing viewers to pick and choose what they wish to see and also to place things or people in categories, simply because there is so much information to be processed. Gomez-Pena presents himself with these ideas in mind, calling attention to and mocking the “extreme” by chugging a bottle of hot sauce while loud rock is playing. He intelligently presents himself as embodying specific latino stereotypes against an ambiguously white background, pushing viewers into upholding their own stereotypes while also identifying him in response to mainstream culture. He writes, “…our new audiences are more than willing to manipulate our identity” (297).
Laura Bennett
The video “Instant Identity Ritual” speaks about Mexican masculinity. He is clearly acting as a man who is tough, and is showing it by drinking the whole bottle of salsa. He then puts on the hat, which reads EZLN. The EZLN refers to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. This group has been in war with the mexican state since 1994, and there has been almost no violence or resolution. Gomez-Pena says, “As performance artists, we wish to understand our new role and place in this culture of extreme spectacle. In the process of detecting the placement of the new borders it becomes necessary to open up a sui generis ceremonial space for the audience to reflect on their new relationship with cultural, racial and political Otherness.” (p. 298) He is simply opening up this topic of conversation to the public. Part of the EZLN ideology is that they want to to politics in a new, participatory way. The model would involve everyone in Mexico, including the poor. Performance art is very participatory in nature. He is bringing awareness about this social group simply by posting the video and allowing people to have an opinion.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting part of the piece is the fact that he is drinking his favorite “salsa picante.” I wonder where that specific salsa is from, because of the ideologies of the Zapatistas. They advocate for anti-globalization and they seek indigenous control over their local resources. Gomez-Pena speaks a lot about immigration and the border in his work. I wonder if this piece was directed at americans or mexicans. If it is directed at Americans, it appears that he may also be speaking about the government subsidies in the American food industry which are part of the cause of immigration to the United States.
Josiah Werning
Guillermo Gomez-Pena began his essay talking about the corporate interests in a democracy. He said, “In this new convoluted logic, Arafat and the Serial Sniper will be granted equal status and media coverage, as will Mother Teresa and Lady Diana.” Using the theory behind corporate interests, media coverage will evaluate the stories and people that will sell the most. In a corporate world, popular culture has always been dominated by the power of money. The same can be said about norms, nudity and gore has been welcomed through Hollywood blockbusters like Eyes Wide Shut and Saw, respectably.
ReplyDeleteIn his Instant Identity Ritual performance of 2005, Gomez-Pena chugs a bottle of picante sauce. I interpreted this performance using his annoyance of mainstream bizarre. Mainstream bizarre, he says, was a one-time subculture, radical behavior and alternative thought, but now is seen as the mainstream. His performance mimicked an advertisement extending the radical and alternative. His annoyance for the, now, mainstream acts as his motivator to create a more bizarre, a more alternative performance.
In Track #7 of his essay, Gomez-Pena spoke of his group’s new direction as Other-as-freak. “My colleagues and I have explored the multi-screen spectacle of the Other-as-freak by decorating and enhancing our brown bodies with special effects make-up, hyper ethnic motifs, hand-made low-rider prosthetics and braces, and what we term useless or imaginary technology(that is, with strictly poetical, ritualistic, or performative purposes.” Their new direction creates this image in my head that they are just trying to be more of a spectacle than an artistic expression. If Gomez-Pena is troubled because his once bizarre expression no longer impresses his audience and that he needs to create a more extreme show than I am not sold on his art.
In the other performance, Real Faces, the multi-track audio in the background blurs my interpretation. As we talked about the importance of gender in the last meeting, I was confused at first because I couldn’t figure out if the gun(man) was in fact a man or a woman. If the gunman was a woman I would have considered the performance having an emasculating theme but if it was a man I would have considered a war-like scenario given the wardrobe Gomez-Pena was wearing.
In the article "Culturas-In-Extremis: Performing againist the cultural backdrop of the mainstream bizarre" Guillermo Gomez-Pena states "..performance artists must now compete in outrageousness with sleazebags Howard Stern, Jerry Springer, and MTV's Jackass" (Gomez-Pena 288). I feel this directly relates to the first video clip "Instant Identity Ritual" by Guillermo Gomez-Pena. I feel that this stunt is to show an extreme, and where the viewer is attention is grabbed by the fact of someone elses outrageous stunt. I felt like this could have been something that you would see on Jackass. So the fact that Gomez-Pena feels that he is competing with them makes sense. Also I think that he is giving himself an "instant identity". It is pretty obvious that he has a Latino heritage, but he highlights this by choosing his "favorite hot sauce", which is often associated with the Latino culture.
ReplyDeleteThe second video clip "Real Faces" I feel is a great example where Gomez-Pena is performing for the audience but wants them to interact. "Ceding our will to the audience and inviting them to participate in what apperas to be "extreme performance games" are integral aspects of the new phase of our work" (Gomez-Pena 297). I think that a lot of performance artists use this technique, and that half there performance really is how the audience reacts to them. If you watch the background of this video clip you can see some people walking quickly through the exhibit and then others slowly realizing that it is two real people performing within the exhibit.
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ReplyDeleteThe first piece reminded me of those extreme action videos, such as Jackass. The image of Gomez-Pena pounding down a bottle of Picante salsa followed by some metal sounding music. He then put on a ski mask followed by more music. This is clearly a critique of our existing culture where “’radical’ behavior … has become mainstream.” (Gomez-Pena, 287) I find Gomez-Pena’s critique of radical behavior to be obvious. This is blatant in his quick consumption of the salsa and the music. What confused me, however, was the putting on of the ski mask. I didn’t get it at the time, but reading Joseph’s blog post was enlightening as the acronym now has some of meaning to it. Anna’s point about comparing the skiing mask to a wrestling mask was intriguing as well as it is often considered a stereotype for Mexican males. While I’m certain he’s addressing that stereotype, I cannot be sure as to what point he’s trying to get across because of the acronym on the mask, the music, and Gomez-Pena’s lack of speaking for that portion.
ReplyDeleteGomez-Pena’s second piece recalls Track 6, Collective primitives in the great international expo. Since he’s standing on a pedestal in a museum setting in costume, this brings the idea of collectible primitive. What is also interesting is that Gomez-Pena is first seen holding a gun, and then another clip shows a woman pointing the gun at this crotch while he is still on display. This was a strange shift as Gomez-Pena goes from just being on display to being seemingly threatened while on display. Gomez-Pena said it best in his article, “…artists are at the mercy of the global curator, critic, and/or producer.” (Gomez-Pena, 295) In the last piece, he was at the mercy of the woman with the gun.
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