Resilient Responses to a Persistent Reality

It seems impossible to speak about anything these days in separation from the pandemic. The cascading effects have infiltrated facets of every person’s life and even things that aren’t necessarily related are made to be, by proxy, through the persistent reality of COVID-19. Resilient Responses deals with this in a performance event with Ekin Bernay, Thomas Heyes, Rowdy SS and guest Rebecca Bellantoni. Recorded at the Tate Modern in London, the performances were initially live streamed from February 4th to March 4th and the show is currently available to watch in full on YouTube; this is how I watched it – from the comfort of my own couch. Resilient Responses was sanctioned by the Tate as a part of Bruce Nauman, an exhibition on the oeuvre of Bruce Nauman, which ran from October 7th to February 21st. The artists in Resilient Responses reflect on themes in Bruce Nauman’s work, while simultaneously reacting to the struggles and subsequent resilience necessitated by the isolation and anxiety of the pandemic. Resilient Responses was created as a subset of Bruce Nauman and the artists engage with the codes in Nauman’s work, in some cases referencing specific works. Despite this, Resilient Responses is just as reflective of lockdown and isolation as it is Bruce Nauman’s work. That is to say Resilient Responses needn’t be solely under Bruce Nauman’s umbrella. The performances were powerful and relatable in the context of the pandemic and that’s certainly the angle I initially watched from. 

The stage for each performance is the vast and empty concrete architectural spaces of the Tate, and the artists actively use the building as part of their pieces – pushing back at the intimidating nature of concrete structures. Despite the tremendous size of the concrete rooms, there is a tension with the building that’s inextricably confining; the varying spaces resonate with the claustrophobic rooms and areas created by Nauman. From the first to last performance, the artists use the gallery in freer and more expansive ways, moving from contained and dark corners to open and central areas. Intended to be disseminated online, the spaces are manipulated through the use of cinematography, the performers’ movements are framed and tracked in a pleasing and logical ways. 

Still of Ekin Bernay, Resilient Responses (2021)

The Resilient Responses video is divided into four performances, with short reflections by the artists at the end. The first begins with a close up of Ekin Bernay, who is wearing a harness around her upper body that is attached to a parachute. Ekin Bernay is a performance artist and psychotherapist, who focuses on the healing elements of dance and movement. A recording of her voice declares: “As we enter this world, we scream to announce our presence – I am real.” A wind-machine shoves Bernay’s hair into her face as she struggles to work against the increasingly forceful wind pushing the parachute and her body backwards. She leans forward in an exaggerated fashion, communicating the sheer power of the wind. Her movements are kind of alien-like and because her focus is narrowly on fighting the wind, she displays a lack of emotion. “I am real,” is repeated like an affirmation she is attempting to convince herself of. Bernay is suspended in time and space, stuck, yet falling and appearing to exert great effort to remain undefeated by the wind. As the segment comes to an end, her struggle subsides she becomes more still. Bernay’s performance acts as bookends to the show, setting the tone, it then briefly remerges at the end, bringing us back to where we first started. ‘Mary Falling,’ a part of Nauman’s Falls, Pratfalls and Sleights of Hand [Clean Version] (1993) was an influence to Bernay’s performance. The image of a prolonged fall resonates as a feeling of being frozen in time or a sense of timelessness. I am reminded of when the lockdown began last winter and individuals were so stuck in their bubbles, it was as if our senses of reality were slowed and warped; an external force pushing people to remain in a state of liminality. 

Still of Tom Heyes, Resilient Responses (2021)

Partitioned by a black transition screen, Tom Heyes appears for the second performance, barely visible, slumped over and enclosed in a dark shadow between concrete pillars. The area is dimly lit by a distant source, accentuating the shadows in the room. The sound is fuzzy like a swarm of bees and an authoritative voice is audible but highly distorted and echoing, contributing to an ominous atmosphere. Unlike Bernay’s voice, this one is indiscernible without the subtitles. To be frank, I turned my laptop volume down during this part as I found it viscerally unsettling. Soundtrack in tow, Heyes maneuvers in sporadic motions, his rib cage sticking out, his fists clenched. He has said his movements are inspired by Joy Division singer Ian Curtis – this is evident in the twitchy, convulsion-like, way Heyes performs, as though his body is moving unexpectedly to him, causing visible tension. He looks to be battling with his own unpredictable actions. Heyes doesn’t shy away from using audio and film; in his performance, a movie of a road at night-time takes over the screen. He eventually moves out of sight and reappears as part of the movie, smoking a cigarette and looking at the camera as if he is in on some privileged information the viewer is unaware of. The movie and Heyes’ twitching merge and blur the lines between recorded video and performance; he transforms himself from an isolated figure watching an imaginary scene to one that has joined the imaginary world. In turn, this brings up themes of existentialism and time that Heyes in referencing in Nauman’s work; what is real is being questioned. In contrast to Bernay’s performance wherein she was struggling against an external force, Heyes’ struggle is within himself. The internal struggle reflects what we all might face locked within our minds. As isolation sets in and the intrigue of a new situation wears off, the subsequent vulnerability leaves us feeling raw and wounded. Many people have been forced to face themselves in ways they had not had a previous opportunity to. Anxiety becomes endemic. 

Still from Bruce Nauman, Good Boy Bad Boy (1985)

Still of Rowdy SS and Tom Heyes, Resilient Responses (2021)

Referencing Nauman’s Good Boy Bad Boy (1985), Tom Heyes joins Rowdy SS to perform in a manner that’s collaborative yet disconnected. Their faces are concealed by ski masks, a familiar barrier. They slowly move around a concrete pillar in an echoing space, shifting in and out of sync. As if in an attempt to displace the unmovable concrete feature, Rowdy and Heyes push and pull at the pillar, fighting it – together but separately, a familiar sentiment. Eventually, the two artists fold into a confined space beneath a staircase. Heyes and Rowdy are reduced to silhouetted figures, at many points when they are touching each other they are indistinguishable from one another. Urgent high-pitched screeching can be heard, culminating with a ringing bell as they move from under the staircase, signalling the end of what is happening here. My takeaway from this is the fluctuation of the two’s proximity, here we are a majority of the way through the show, paralleling the past year, and the rules of closeness keep changing. We are constantly told a message about working together but staying apart; we’re repeating the same words but are we doing the same actions?

Still of Rowdy SS, Resilient Responses (2021)

 In the final chapter, Rowdy SS is adorned in bright red, inclusive of a matching blindfold. Unlike the last two performances, the fluorescent gallery lights illuminate the concrete staircase that he slowly descends. The light and colour are a refreshing change after the darkness thus far. Quick, gliding movements of Rowdy’s dancing fill the space as he moves from room to room, led by intuition and proprioception rather than vision. He finds his way to a large red box that he interacts with, pushing, leaning, climbing, balancing. Rebecca Bellantoni is revealed to be writing on the box with white chalk: “one, two, three action///move towards yourself...” Afterwards, now dressed in all-white, Rowdy walks on partially filled water glasses arranged in a square, a clear nod to Nauman’s Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square (1967) . Glasses are broken and knocked over as he steps on them, the sound of breaking glass fills the room. In the reflection at the end of the performance video, Rowdy SS speaks to bringing movement within the large space to people who may not have access to movement or a space in which to move freely; an idea successfully translated in their performance. 

Still from Bruce Nauman, Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square (1967)

Still of Rowdy SS, Resilient Responses (2021)

 The progression of Resilient Responses follows a similar trajectory of my own pandemic experience. The performances begin anxiously and dark, with an air of uncertainty as the performer’s movements are slow and restrained. As the experience progresses, the performers, and the viewers, change and transform to allow a greater sense of freedom, though still within this vast concrete space. Even though the whole video takes place within the Tate, the mood and use of the space varies, especially in the way the lighting is used. The concrete architecture and layered sounds are very deliberate, cold and unnatural, which comes in contrast to the motions that appear spontaneous and unplanned. In succession to each other, the performances depict a journey of adaptation, resilience if you will. The vast darkness of the empty gallery becomes an echo chamber of a relatable set of experiences. It is important to note the further layer of viewing Resilient Responses, from at home, streaming on YouTube. Because I am in control of where I place myself to watch the show, my experience is so heavily determined by my choices and my environment outside of the video itself. For this reason, I feel I projected much of my own narrative onto what I saw. And I believe the emotions and performers could surely resonate with anyone else who has experienced isolation or uncertainty over the past year.

Bibliography 

Perform Istanbul. “Ekin Bernay.” Accessed April 10, 2021.             https://www.performistanbul.org/index.php/ekin/. 

“Resilient Responses | Performance | Tate.” YouTube Video, 50:52. “Tate Talks,” February 4, 2021.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W7MmHaKkRs&ab_channel=TateTalks. 

Tate. “Resilient Responses.” Accessed April 10, 2021. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-    modern/exhibition/bruce-nauman/resilient-responses. 

Tate. “Bruce Nauman.” Accessed April 10, 2021. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-    modern/exhibition/bruce-nauman. 

The-Dots. “Performance Artist Tom Heyes.” Accessed April 10, 2021. https://the-    dots.com/projects/performance-artist-tom-heyes-378016