FANGLESS

2017

Performance, 18min.
With Raluca Croitoru

Fangless begins in a large space. At the center — where all chairs and eyes are directed — there is a circle. Two bodies enter. Walking in sync, they approach the middle. One stands. The other shifts into a falling position. The standing body begins to address the audience, speaking about the second body. An anatomy lesson unfolds. One by one, parts of the body — eyes, nose, lips, ears, head, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, breasts, hips, back, legs, skin, bones, lungs, spleen, stomach, ovaries, heart, brain, tissues, veins, nerves, and cells — are pointed to and described.

Fangless explores the body of the stranger as a contested territory — one where histories, memories, hearsay, gossip, and state-imposed narratives of integration all compete to assign meaning. The performance draws from a range of texts that delineate the boundary between insider and outsider, with particular focus on the Inburgeringsexamen (civic integration exams) in the Netherlands.

Documentation by Carina Ederman
Special thanks to Ash Kilmartin and Collette Rayner

Part of:
Why Is Everybody Being So Nice? The Power Nap
Stedelijk Museum (NL)
Why Is Everybody Being So Nice?
De Appel (NL)