(UN)BODY, lwrds duniam
A sonic art performance for video. Two minutes in duration, consisting of layered, quick-changing imagery of the artist surrounded by pill bottles.
Title: (UN)BODY
Artist: lwrds duniam
Date: 2020
Medium/Materials: Single-channel HD Video
Dimensions: 00:02:06
Form/Genre: Video Art, Sound Art
Key Terms/Subject/Tags: Disembodiment; Chronic pain; Gender; Self-care; Medicalization
A sonic art performance for video. 2 minutes in duration, consisting of layered, quick-changing imagery of the artist surrounded by pill bottles.
Artist Statement:
Brujería Praxis (lwrds duniam’s art-making) is like the artist, sick and disabled, and in itself, a form of queer and trans sexual labour. Their process is rooted in kinship with the more-than-human world, somatic listening, ceremonial gestures, and documenting idiosyncratic rituals. Brujería Praxis honours sexuality and the erotic as key nurturing elements.
(UN)BODY (2020), 2:06 min, is a sonic art performance for video working through duniam’s experiences with medicalization and chronic illness. Layering the soundtrack and video, (UN)BODY considers ritual practices of self-care as a response to constant disembodiment, struggling with navigating the medical industrial complex.
(UN)BODY invites others to witness moments of care, self-soothing, and small acts of healing. And with that duniam gets to witness themself too, glimpse into their psyche so often held under siege by chronic pain; featuring their personal ever-growing collection of empty pill bottles that act as performance remnants and sculptural objects in themselves.
It has been 6 years since duniam made this work and it remains highly relevant to their daily life.
Cultural Context / Story Behind the Work:
Created months after top surgery (which happened right before COVID “hit”), recorded during isolation, as duniam was starting to feel burnout.
Rights for this Image:
This digital image is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. You are free to share it for non-commercial purposes, as long as you credit the artist.
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