Performance Art Review: keyon gaskin

keyon gaskin defies you to defy them

It is a warehouse; its dirty, smelling like tuna fish, stale bear and sweat. There is a bar for drinks, an undefined “stage”, some lights set up almost haphazardly, a makeshift sound system that awkwardly blasts sound, echoing off the walls of the unconventionally chosen performance space. A set of bleachers stand centered to the “stage”; a few long benches and a small variety of chairs surround them. Not enough for the 200 plus crowd to sit on.

The audience has just finished taking in one set, and gaskin’s performance has begun; many have not realized yet.

A voice rips through the air like thunder. Where is it coming from? Some people get curious and seek it out, others continue chatting about, whatever. Some sit in reverence, understanding, the performance has begun. The voice comes down and the words are almost inaudible, you cannot quite understand, but as the volume lowers they begin to take form.

Eventually you hear, clearly: “CAN YOU SHUT. THE. F***. UP!?” which snaps all eyes and ears to attention and a hush falls over the building. That voice was Godlike: commanding and defiant. gaskin is on the second floor of the building overlooking a fixated audience. They can be heard, but not always seen.

It is important to note gaskin’s work cannot be contained in a box, nor will I attempt to place them into one.

What proceeds is an artistic statement “This is a performance, this is for you, you are a community, you are my material, this is a prison, leave when you want.” Over, and over, and over gaskin repeats this, changing intonation, emphasizing different words, making different commentary with each retelling of the lines “This is a performance, this is for you, you are a community, you are my material, this is a prison, leave when you want.” Their intent is present.

Photo Courtesy of: Viva! Art Action by Paul Litherland

gaskin is coming down, but the crowd gasps as they decide that they are walking across a rusty beam about a foot and a half wide, in six (or more) inch spike heels. They are dressed in shiny grey basketball shorts, a grey t-shirt, and of course, the heels. They continue moving along the beam, cautiously, but with an air of nonchalantly knowing exactly the impact of their choices and movement on the fixated audience. They reach a point where a pulley chain is attached to the beam, and descend among the standing audience, crowded around like a hoard of zombies in a Walking Dead episode.

Begin, the defiance.

gaskin claims space in a way I have never experienced before. In a white-centered room, that easily has 10+ euro-descended people to one person of colour, gaskin manipulates all the bodies around him with firm gestures. With a flicking of the wrist, it is understood: “You better git out mah way!” with the entire attitude to accompany it. They remove anyone sitting on the bleachers with a hand wave causing concerto maestros to beam with pride.

A stunning amount tension-force is applied to the bleachers as we watch in wonder how this person, wearing six-inch high heels, drags, single-handedly the entire bleacher forward about three or four feet. IN. SIX. INCH. HIGH. HEELS. This is where things become interesting, any and all people of colour; Afro-descended, Asian, South-Asian, Latino/a/x, Indigenous, and anyone in between were the ones instructed to go and sit on the bleachers. All of us complied willingly.

This took up much of gaskin’s time, as finding the people of colour in the crowd was no easy task. It is noteworthy that gaskin does everything with consent, verbal or non-verbal. Never touching anyone but always being firm and assertive, kind of the way Cesar Millan tells us we must be with dogs. The cries of some euro-descended people protesting, “this is not fair” were met with a disgusted hand wave and a “mmh mmh!” which clearly meant, “MOVE!”

Photo Courtesy of: Viva! Art Action by Paul Litherland

Anyone who defies the commands of their performance art by not moving becomes the central figure of the show, they stand or sit, state clearly “if this person doesn’t move, I am going to watch them until they do, I will set my timer and this will be the show”. Ironically, though unsurprisingly, the main defiant ones were two male passing, white men. Eventually, though reluctantly they would do as they were told.

As a person of colour observing this performance, gaskin, an Afro-descended American human, is making very poignant statements. None of what they are doing is haphazard or random. Each gesture, command, every look, the music they play, are deliberate statements. The euro-descended people were theirs to manipulate, or be consensually manipulated by. The POCs were witnesses on a stand to observe a performance that puts white supremacy on trial.

No cross-examination allowed.

Photo Courtesy of: Viva! Art Action by Paul Litherland

keyon gaskin blends vogue, contemporary, twerk, krump, hip-hop, moments of silence, theatre, and more, for a performance that is earth-shatteringly thunderous. This was boldness at its best. To describe the rest of this performance would be to diminish the value of the political and sociological statements of this body-centered storyteller’s work.

You must experience this for yourself.

keyon gaskin defies you to defy them. Because they are telling the truth, and if you can’t handle it, refer to their artistic statement at the beginning of the piece:

This is a performance,

This is for you,

You are a community,

You are my material,

This is a prison,

Leave when you want.

Thank you for reading.

See you on the other side.

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Kym Dominique-Ferguson

The Jamhaitianadian