Pokeberry Body





Performance using muslin fabric, linen, stones, pokeberry, body

Performed at Future Tenant, Pittsburgh, PA in SEPTEMBER 2018.

Documentation by Stephen Solomon and Enzo Furusho.
Pokeweed grow natively throughout the East of this continent. Its reddish stems and plump berries attract all sorts of creatures. Its pigmented juices have been used for mark making for about as long as human memory can be ascertained.

If not for the attachment to the personal, I would redistribute every part of myself to those who need it more. Body ties me to earth, to tangibility, to some mark, however temporary. My weight, my space, my love are tied to the forest which, situationally, is estranged from me. The commons call to me but I cannot get to them.

At the end of every day, and at the beginning, we need tenderness and love to continue. We need care and empathy to survive, yet softness seems subversive.

Thus,

Every movement comes out of love. My anger comes out of love. My labor comes out of love. My marks come out of love. For me and you, this is personal, this is a privilege, and this is intimacy before introduction.

“Is it radical to say that I was saved by love? Is it subversive to be sweet?” – Chelsea Manning





Mark