ANÓNIMO 1 1981
Plazoleta del Centro Administrativo Municipal de Cali (C.A.M). Colombia. Duration: 20 minutes. Photo: Fabio Arango
I was born and raised under the strong influence of political and social events in Colombia. By 1979 and during the presidency of Turbay Ayala, I felt restless by the current political reality. The Colombian Army started to raid, persecute and make disappear those who opposed and made a resistance; many of them were found in mass graves. By the 80s, the army had made disappear and tortured several relatives and friends, the majority of whom were college students. To pay tribute to those affected, the idea of “Anonimo 1” was created.
On a walkway marked by a 70 meter-long line of white paper, set with the loud tic-tac sound of a clock going in the background, I moved quietly, dressed in a white tunic and cap all made of rubber. My face covered with adhesive bandages, emphasizing the anonymity. The area remained guarded by police officers holding a rope on both sides of the walkway during the performance, which lasted 20 minutes. Shortly after starting the ritual, I sit on the white paper line, and with a scalpel I cut the tips of my toes. I get up and continue walking, leaving a blood trail on the white surface. The second part, encompasses a moment of self-healing of my wounds. Lastly, I move on the surface of the walkway with my toes wrapped in gauze and adhesive tape until the alarm of the clock ringing takes me out of the trance.
11 DE MARZO 1982
Body Art. "Actos y Situaciones" Galería San Diego, Bogotá, Colombia. Photo: Camilo Gomez & Nelson Villegas
Ritual to the menstrual cycle, worthy of every woman as the antecedent to the origin of life. The experience of menstruation has been taboo. It is considered shameful and repugnant in most cultures and religions. In this performance I emphasize the pivotal role of womanhood in the origin of life and of her civil rights in the world.
In an enclosed space, on the floor, lays a line of paper arranged in an L shape. On a side wall there is a black line that drops from the ceiling and against the other wall there is a circle of white light projected. The place is lit with a black light and in the background plays a continuous soundtrack of a flushing toilet. My naked body is covered with sanitary napkins and making used of my menstrual bodily fluids, exclusive and unique to the feminine being, I carry out a dance on the white paper line. With my pubis and menstrual blood I draw stains and lines on the wall.
ANÓNIMO 3 1982
Body art recorded on the banks of the polluted Cauca river, Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
Photo: Nelson Villegas / Video: Antonio Dorado
The Cauca River, like so many rivers of this world, and earth, in general, are being affected by non-degradable waste disposed by industries and human beings alike. Residues that alter the natural components of the environment altering decomposition cycles, intensifying the extinction of the biodiversity, flora and fauna. For this offense I created a ritual to Mother Earth as an act of forgiveness.
My head will be covered with gauze that will extend over my face, and pieces of surgical tape will covered my body. Over the plowed field, by the banks of the Cauca River, a spiral of 10 meters in diameter is drawn with quick lime (quick lime obtained form local mines) and a toilet bowl is placed in the middle of it. I walk toward the center and I do a vaginal wash letting my organic fluids fall into the ground. I pull each piece of surgical tape from my skin, thus pulling my body hair. I place them on the ground forming a segmented line from the center of the spiral towards the outer perimeter. My organic fluids (urine and water with vaginal fluid) and body hair will be the compost and fertilizer used as an act of forgiveness
to Mother Earth. The ritual will last 15 minutes.
ANÓNIMO 4 1982
Body Art recorded on the banks of the Cauca River, Valle del Cauca.
20 minutes. Foto: Nelson Villegas / Video: Antonio Dorado
I questioned how pleasant it is to be birthed in a world where there are neither life guaranties nor peace for newborns. In a society where each year 11 million children died of hunger every year.
The performance takes place at sunset, in between the end of daylight, the beginnings of the night. Along the sunset, there’s the reflection of flames from a bonfire. On the open landscape, the installation displays a triangular pit, whose dimensions match my height (1.50 meters), accompanied by three smaller triangular pits filled with sewage water. Placed at the bottom of the triangular pit, there are layers of human placentas, in which I buried my body. I wrapped myself with plastic strips that hold more placentas of the women who delivered during that day in the city where the performance took place (Cali/Colombia and Guayaquil/Ecuador). Through this action I attempt to embark on a psychological and sociological self-exploration of the fear of being born in a society in which there is no guarantees of survival. These self- reflections produced involuntary physiological reactions including vomiting and crying.
RESIDUOS I 1983
Instalation
The body as language, an expression from the 70s.
Museum of Modern Art of Cartagena, Colombia.
I call attention to how large corporations and the misuse and exploitation of natural resources are greatly polluting the planet.
I gather healing and antiseptic elements that are used in hospitals such as IV bags, probes, gauze, surgical tape, etc. I insert and mix liquid, solid, and organic elements into the bags, such as concrete with serum, water with hair, water with oil and blood, serum with air blood and tape. Some of these objects are suspended while others are on the ground. All are tied through probes are connected to an iron bar covered with gauze. In this installation, there is a large plastic bag inflated with air from my lungs on which I write statistical data about city pollution.
RESIDUOS II 1984
Performance Instalation
XXIX National Hall of Visual Arts, Pasto, Colombia.
Duration: 5 minutes
(There is no photographic record nor video)
As long as developed nations continue with their excessive consumption of the so-called “black gold” and continue with excessive exploitation and extraction through their oil companies, Latin America will not develop, nor will it prosper. On the contrary, it will continue to be engulfed in poverty, with grave environmental challenges and violence.
The installation consists of ten clear glass containers (30 cm x 20 cm) placed in a line on the floor. Oil, water, and organic elements are mixed inside the bottles, including blood, urine, saliva, pubic hairs, pieces of chicken entrails, flies, spiders, concrete, dust, dirt, and feathers. The metal lids of the bottles are lined with cotton and gauze and held in place with surgical tape. On top of the bottles are three serum bags: one with urine, one with a sanitary towel with menstrual blood, and the last with a 3-month human fetus. All items are vacuum sealed.
Performance: I walk naked towards the corner where the installation is set. I remain with my back to the audience for 5 minutes in order to give the audience time to read my biography, which is written on my back.