A man stands still in the centre of a room, eyes closed, wearing nothing but briefs. There is a portable record player playing folk music. Two women take turns to bite a blue sponge before biting the man’s flesh. His skin is covered with coloured bite marks, either blue because of the ink or red because of the irritated flesh. The subject is absent, his reactions difficult to perceive.

Now and then he loses his balance. The two female protagonists develop a taste for his flesh. A certain pleasure and desire is revealed in their gestures. Mortification of the flesh? Religious symbolism? Sadomasochistic ritual? A return to man’s primal instincts? A crude demonstration of eroticism? A nod in the direction of historical performances, such as Vito Acconci in Applications, Yoko Ono in Cut and Chris Burden in Shoot? The emphasis is on the bite mark, the bitten and mutilated body. The two women’s only obsession centres on biting the flesh. The subject isn’t perceived as a human being any more: he is nothing but flesh.

According to Yann Marussich: “[…] A performance–art in general even–is a constant dialogue, with the audience, with past artists and with oneself… This performance follows the same dynamic but with a playful twist, even though that twist might only be a front for a certain type of poetry: the women’s bite marks are wounds as well as a sign of carnal pleasure, like miniature blue skies with teeth […]”.

Texte: Anne Rochat
English translation: AJS Craker