The Broward County Art scene is taking on new dimensions with it’s second annual The Nerve 2017 performance art festival. The festival takes place over three days, starting on Friday, March 17 and concluding Sunday evening with a dramatic curtain close, leaving guests in awe and wonder.
Crowds piled in to the three main galleries on Sunday evening, March 19, where I was lucky enough to attend the spectacular event. Located in the FATvillage (Flagler Arts and Technology) Arts District of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, more than thirty artists gathered and performed their very best, most thought-provoking pieces. A collection of extraordinary modes of expression and interpretation left the audience stunned, especially after one such performance by ground-breaking artist, Belaxis Buil (www.belaxisbuil.net).
In a three part interdisciplinary exhibit, Buil uses genres of art to challenge mainstream, minimalistic approaches to the art world.
Bloodthirsty (the end of the reformers, the beginning of change). Courtesy of Belaxis Buil 2017
The performance begins with a beautiful woman wearing a leather slip standing with her back to the audience, in front of painted red sticks that are made to look like arteries, or a human heart. She is a prisoner, strung up by a rope that is tied to the top of her head, and the performance begins when an ominous man stands opposite of the red sticks and begins uses different weapons to hack through the arteries. On Sunday evening, Belaxis was performing the third act of her piece, with day three emphasizing gestural action and reinvention of sculpture.
As an audience member, I saw two different genders, one male and one female both in competition with each other. As the entire exhibit is focused around St. Joan of Arc and Pagan-Wiccan practices, I sensed strongly the need for the woman to break free from the man, and with each loud chopping noise his machete made on the red sticks, she became more agitated and began sawing through the rope with her knife. Several audience members seemed uncomfortable with the performance, as she seemed to struggle against the threat of the man. She finally managed to saw through the rope, and the audience waited with anticipation to see what would happen next.
She did not run, or attack the man, but instead, let him quietly finish his work, allowing him to exist without danger or threat from her. She threw the knife into the pile of red sticks, and he kept mechanically performing his male duties, while she seemed to wait for him to finish. Once he finished, the performance ended. I had witnessed a striking performance that commented on the debate of gender norms, and how conditioned society is to feel that the man is always a threat. The heart symbolized the beat of life, a shared common humanity that exists in both genders and how we all have our own work to do.
I caught up with Belaxis Buil after her performance and this is what she had to say:
“The works I have created and continue to create are reinforcing to argue with old mentality art critics ( those such as Greenberg and Morris), which talks about illusionism and minimal art, which is art should be instant as opposed to theater and other works or styles requiring time to experience.”
In response to this I told her my take on the performance, and she became gratified that my experience “transcends the idea that art has to do just ONE thing for somebody. It’s supposed to do something for individual consciousness, which will be different for everyone.”
In accordance with celebrating unique experiences, Fort Lauderdale’s FATvillage seeks to represent challenging exhibits that force us all to go deeper than the norm, and this extraordinary artist allowed me to do just that.
The 2nd annual NERVE 2017 art festival was unlike any I had ever attended, and is definitely going to be a must see for years to come. For more information go to https://www.fatvillageprojects.com/the-nerve-2017 , or visit me on twitter: ali@laquadivine.com
Alison Berger is a staff writer for BAJA and often posts about local art events on her blog: alisonberger.wordpress.com. For more information, be sure to sign up!
