Visiting artist stirs controversy

Armed with two fellow artists and a number of local volunteers last Saturday, performance artist Guillermo G?mez-Pe?a set the Russell Auditorium stage and the campus of Georgia College & State University ablaze with controversy.
Some audience members have called G?mez-Pe?a’s performance piece, “Mexotica,” a work of art. Others have called it obscene. GC&SU President Dorothy Leland says the line between the two is an important one for students to discuss.
“The questions that this performance raised about art and its boundaries are issues that I hope students will debate,” said Leland. “The performance obviously provoked strong reactions. I talked with students who felt that the performance helped them to confront important issues related to cultural and sexual exploitation. But others reacted quite differently and expressed concerns about the appropriateness of the performance.”
“In a liberal arts educational context,” Leland continued, “the most important thing to do in this situation is to discuss and critically examine these different reactions and views.”
According to freshman English major Sandy Green, those who were not in attendance missed an interesting show.
“I felt like I was in the red light district,” said Green, “I saw a woman playing the Japanese character. She stood on a platform posing and had a red marker that any member of the line could use to write whatever they wanted on her.”
Sonya Delaney, senior art major and “Mexotica” participant says G?mez-Pe?a asked volunteers to select their own personas.
“We met with Guillermo Friday afternoon. He told us we should pick what we wanted to do. I decided to wear one of the army uniforms, and I decided I wanted to be a sexy female in the military, but firm and disciplinary. By the end, they needed more attendants to help with the performers and that’s what I ended up doing,” she said.
Junior art major Margaret O’Quinn also participated in the performance.
“I played a very sweet southern belle with a very raunchy side,” said O’Quinn. “I was very proper when I was walking around, then all of a sudden I would do something unexpected like take a swig of alcohol or say something sexual or inappropriate.”
Green said as the night went on, the volunteers and performers became more involved and, to the chagrin of some onlookers, audience members became less inhibited.
“Things got more intense as more people began to participate and G?mez-Pe?a’s performers became more active. A man that was standing in line behind me earlier was now naked and being fondled by [a performer] in bondage gear,” said Green. “People walked out disgusted, laughing, with blank stares, and/or were excited.”
“I did not find one thing that was enjoyable, respectful or even artistic about Mr. G?mez-Pe?a’s story,” said Beau Russell, a student who attended the event for a class. “Even though [attendance] was required, if I had known the nature of the event, I would have rather taken a zero.”
Russell said G?mez-Pe?a’s visit to GC&SU should be his last.
“Under no circumstances should he ever be allowed back. I am very disappointed and let down that the administration would allow anything like this,” he said. “I didn’t like the naked woman on the cross with the strapped-on dildo. If there was a point to that, I didn’t see it. Then other people getting naked, pretending to have sex with each other and with a police baton,” said one junior art major who wished to remain anonymous. “I’m not sure Milledgeville is ready for Guillermo. Maybe the [Art] department is ready, but I’m not so sure the town is.”
Richard Lou, chair of the GC&SU Art Department, says the scenes were meant to provoke audiences.
“What Guillermo does, and it’s a very powerful thing, is that he holds up a mirror to us and we look at this mirror. Of course, the things we saw on that stage are all around us. The shocking thing is that we’ve never seen it in such a concentrated form. That’s where the intensity comes in,” he said. “It’s coupled with our society’s fascination with extreme behavior-extreme dating, extreme sports, extreme survival, real TV. Then there were also women and men who were in various modes of undress and that was in regards to our society’s tendency to hyper-sexualize things.”
Like Leland, Lou said no matter on what side of the issue students fall, keeping an open dialogue is important to their education.
“The reactions stem from, ‘this changed my life and it’s great that it’s in Milledgeville,’ to, ‘I was offended and I wouldn’t go again.’ If you like it, ok, if you don’t like it, that’s ok, too. The question is — do we participate in an institution that will allow and tolerate things that may be disturbing to us? Or do we want to live in a controlled environment where we are not provoked or questioned?” said Lou.
Dr. Tina Yarborough, a professor in the art department, agreed.
“Like many of the students, I was surprised by the performance and at times particularly uncomfortable, but for me the real benefit of experiencing that performance is in the questions that it raises,” she said. “It has really created an atmosphere for questioning art and questioning what is art and that’s been a part of the art world since its inception.”
Beyond the issues of meaning and context surrounding this piece or any art, G?mez-Pe?a smoked on stage and drank alcohol. While O’Quinn drank water from a flask, some reports say G?mez-Pe?a was consuming the real thing.
According to Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, vice president of student affairs and dean of students, if the drinker is over the legal age, the behavior is not actionable.
“There are only certain buildings where you’re allowed to serve alcohol, but as part of an educational program this wouldn’t be subject to standard policies,” he said.
Smoking cigarettes on stage is also permissible according to Russell Staples, technical director of the Department of Music and Theatre, who says smoking in Russell Auditorium is prohibited except when performing in a production.
“The policy is that if a role calls for it, the actor can smoke, but the department does not purchase tobacco products,” he said. “[G?mez-Pe?a] was told he could smoke on stage during the performance, but that any more than two cigarettes in half an hour would set off the smoke alarm.”
According to Staples, even though G?mez-Pe?a was warned, he and members of the audience smoked until a fire alarm closed the production down just before 9 p.m.
If the alarm had not sounded, the evening would have concluded with a discussion led by the artist. Instead, professors in the art department have been holding group discussions with their classes and may plan a campus-wide forum to discuss their views of the event.
“It’s been really great for all of us to share our experience,” said Lou. “This is great that there was this event where we can start talking about ideas and talk about art and I think that’s a wonderful thing. I think it’s a good start. I think in a true institution of inquiry we can find a place where we can talk about it.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 26 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry