Stomach cam, a 10 – 15 minute performative audio/visual installation.
To me, Stomach cam is a piece which exists within the idea of creating a desperate, corporeal re-composition – using post-human ideas to confront the inner landscapes of one’s physicality and impose these new compositions outwardly, using technology and sound.
The idea:
The idea for Stomach cam came to me while watching the Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, documentary – De Humani Corporis Fabrica. The film made me confront the imagery and landscapes within my own body. I felt intimated by the seemingly uncontrollable and complex systems. I was inspired to confront these ideas, ejecting them outwards in a more comprehensible way. I wanted to align my own viscera with my ideas and emotions. I then began working on my performance concept.
Performance concept:
The performer sits at the end of a long table, a finished plate of food sits on the right, a plate of sound manipulation devices on the left, tins of beer are littered around the table. On the opposite side, a computer monitor and laptop – these will be used to stream the live visuals from the endoscopic camera. At this point a contact microphone is placed on the performer’s stomach and the throat microphone around the neck. Under medical supervision, the camera slowly travels down the performer’s oesophagus and into their stomach. The mixer for the microphones is then turned up. The sounds of the stomach and throat are picked up and amplified by the microphones, the performer then proceeds to manipulate the audio whilst the camera is inside of them, using the live monitor feed as reference for how they manipulate sound. After a certain amount of time the performance concludes, the audio is turned down and the camera is retracted – completing the performance.
To me, this piece is about reclaiming your own physicality and forcing people to think differently about theirs. I feel that in this performance my physical and emotional body is aligned and I’m able to project this outwardly.