A World of Colour

Black, Asian and Hispanic artists have, until recently, been absent from performance art. The hegemony of white performers in this Eurocentric form had effectively sealed off spaces that cater to its audience: galleries, alternative spaces, schools. However, the growing plurality in the art world has helped make performance a viable medium for artists of color. Although there have been a limited number of performances by artists of color, several tendencies have been displayed in their works which separates them from most white artists: 1. Use of political concepts, especially ones focusing on racial, sexual, and economic oppression. 2. Connection with revolutionary images and ideas of Third World peoples. 3. Use of ritual especially by AfricanAmerican artists. 4. Humor, both to illustrate biases and to relieve tension. 5. Symbolism. By men, large ritual objects similar to objects in secret societies, especially musical instruments and weapons. By women, this involves dolls, toys, and costumes. Of course, some of these tendencies are found in many performance artists' work, but in the hands of artists of color this vocabulary is pervasive and pointed. Three women of color recently presented performances in downtown spaces; there were similarities in their work, but two of the pieces were considerably riskier than the other one. Candace Hill-Montgomery's Teamwork: The American Way at Franklin Furnace was both ambitious and problematic. It includ52 Imju F±IFi'ii]:1 I iJ ~iIi PATRICIA JONES ed an installation by the artist, slides, a gospel choir, and selected tapes of Malcolm X's speeches. To the delight of some and the chagrin of others, her piece brought together the Black United Front, a Brooklyn-based political group and the downtown art audience. The installation was elaborate. It consisted of dolls, musical instruments, military toys and toy animals. Hill-Montgomery explained (privately) that the installation symbolized the "Community," a village setting of miniature houses, toy animals and people, and the "Ideal City," composed of painted cinder blocks with a couple at its pinnacle. Between these two settings was a vast space with two musicians on either side and a miniature army (unseen by the villagers). The choir began the performance with a singing of the Beatitudes. As their voices faded, the speech of Malcolm X about the murder of four black girls in Birmingham rang out. During this time, slides focusing on protests against police brutality were flashed against the wall behind the installation . Hill-Montgomery's choice of speeches combined with the singing in an evocative way, giving the piece a generous texture: the live voices of the singers, the live voice of a martyred leader-the outrage, humor, helplessness and hope were all there. Unfortunately, that tone was not sustained in the imagery. The slides, at first provocative, became distracting as the performance continued; it would have been interesting to have seen slides made by the artist as well as those generalized images brought by the Black United Front. Furthermore, there was no reference during the piece (except for a brief moment at its beginning) to the elaborate installation. Even with its problems Teamwork: The American Way was distinctive. HillMontgomery reminded the art world of a rarely noticed constituency: the black, brown, and yellow people who live next door or in the next borough. She also brought out black people who wouldn't know Soho from midtown striking a blow against the provincialism that pervades the black communities and the Third World art world. The piece ended with Malcolm's speech on the traits of a true revolution ("A revolution is bloody"); the choir sang "Where Would I Be?" The audience gave them and Ms. Hill-Montgomery a standing ovation. [ I I el I lu pp" .- . I Jessica Hagedorn's Tenement Lover: (no palm trees/in new york city . . .) is concerned with alienation, cross culturalism, and despair. Built around an adaptation of her short story, The Blossoming of Bong Bong and four songs written by her and The Gangster Choir, the piece included live performance of the songs and a scenario that treated culture shock, political repression in the Phillipines, urban ennui, violence, and fascination with American popular culture. As directed by Thulani Davis, the piece was composed of a...