“My Bed” is a 24 hour Endurance Performance Art Experience I felt compelled to do during the early stages of the pandemic to bond in compassion and empathy with all. Rather than a resting place, My Bed is positioned on sharp rocks in the midst of crashing waves. Throughout the duration of 24 hours, the menstruating woman tackles the storms of past traumas biting into a piece of fruit to relieve the discomfort. The premise is trauma humans feel as well as trauma the earth feels due to the human mark, switching the gaze on the beauty of the human and earth form and not the perversions of society. In reality, our bodies are immaculate creatures and are not to be ashamed of or belittled. The process of letting things go, knowing how to let a dying thing leave the body and become new.

A 5 hour performance was conducted at Ethan Cohen KuBe in reflection of the 24 hour performance. Within the video, the films that appear overlaid are handmade originals constructed out of clear film acetate and double-sided tape that alternate between sewing stitches and collage on single frames; and double frames of direct animation involving painting with menstruation blood, dead skin, onion skin, human hair, and cut brillo pad. Projected continuously over the digital, these flickering patterns appear overlaid and create an ephemeral textural experience. The mythology of ancient Greece regarded the pomegranate as a symbol of life and rebirth in the abduction story of Persephone by Hades, the god of the underworld. The condition of the depicted fruit is often allegorical. Like human life, the pomegranate is ephemeral and perhaps a representation of the painful transient nature of our existence. My bed is a narration of oppression, turmoil and the hope of recovery.

Directed by Lauren Vroegindewey (USA)