Going Berserk by Marikiscrycrycry | Overview

Phrases by Francesca Matthys. GOING BERSERK was carried out at APT Gallery on the twenty ninth November as a part of Fest en Fest 2022.

There’s something putting a few black physique indulging freely in rhythm, in motion, in that which grounds them. That is how GOING BERSERK by Marikiscrycrycry started. Immersing us in groove. Flooding our senses with uninhibited motion that felt like we have been watching the performer dance alone of their bed room. For a very long time we have been solely seeing the performer’s naked again that glistened as they continued to exert themselves. Their blue working shorts and trainers that seemed like they belonged on a promenade on the seashore or at a fitness center, lifting weights. A succinct costume and but loaded with a lot that means. 

‘GOING BERSERK follows a determine, the Goner, one who’s misplaced past perception’. As Marikiscrycrycry continued to bop to a viral TikTok music, we because the viewers started to lose ourselves within the rhythm, repetition, within the curves of the performer’s physique. I continued to surprise why we by no means noticed his again. Whether or not he was exploring avoidance, disgrace, maybe even the ability of the gaze positioned upon black our bodies within the commodification of efficiency, in movement, in moments which might be merely these our bodies current. Regardless of the that means, this very intentional selection, I imagine, induced the viewers to stir of their seats, shift round on their cushions and surprise ‘What subsequent?’, ‘How for much longer can his physique maintain?’

Because the performer shook, dropped, spiralled and swirled their hips I think about that to some that an outright show of sensuality might really feel fairly confrontational, uncomfortable because it both awakens their very own wishes or abjections. I nonetheless couldn’t cease fascinated by the pelvis and the importance of the primary or root chakra that home the pelvis. The power to floor oneself and discover safety inside oneself in addition to fulfilling one’s primary wants are situated within the root chakra.

Because the performer activated this area of their physique I drifted off into an excellent world the place the Goner was capable of heal and floor themselves by means of pleasure, by means of the indulgence of their motion, by means of the follow of shaking, or one thing that at instances resembled twerking. How we may all heal by means of self pushed motion.

Shaking the physique as a somatic follow is broadly recognised as a device to launch rigidity and even regulate the nervous system. Nearly everyone seems to be aware of twerking and the way as a follow it has been seen as shameful, although as we progress as a humanity [in little ways] many people particularly feminine figuring out our bodies have taken possession of this way as a option to reclaim their sexuality and even heal traumas. 

I additionally skilled taking part in in the direction of the hand of an authoritative drive on this looped dance. The tempo of the motion was closely pushed by the music that obtained sooner and sooner all through the opening a part of the efficiency. An exterior drive manipulating the performer’s physique or asking them to uphold a sure normal. Because the stakes get larger and the shakes get wilder, I ponder how a lot our our bodies as artists are put underneath strain, how a lot our our bodies as artists of color are demanded upon to even simply obtain assist, recognition and visibility. Twerking for the bag.

I additionally seen intervals of gestures that have been built-in into this vocabulary, the long-lasting closed, raised fist gesture that’s synonymous with the solidarity of oppressed teams or individuals. This contrasted with the dynamism of the dance and was a delicate reference to an ongoing revolution, an ongoing battle to exist with out limitations and bounds. 

Because the catchy TikTok sound died down, the physique earlier than us purged what had been conjured up and spat out what seemed like blood. They then rested and smoked from a vape. I felt their tiredness, their have to cease and take inventory, to really feel what had occurred, what had been conjured up and left on a sq. of plastic within the centre of the ground. This too probably seen as a logistical selection although because the blood was cut up, made me ponder on the numerous instances people have washed their palms of the blood of others, chosen to not be concerned because it didn’t have an effect on them. It could have been at that second or the second thereafter that I perceived the performer’s physique as that of a younger black man on the grips of police brutality. The dancing made much more sense as an act of desperation, to do something to outlive. To please. 

This bodily efficiency quickly reworked as Marikiscrycrycry started to vocalise their expertise by means of a microphone spewing bars comparable to ‘I’m a goner …’ acknowledging their defeat. This tragic sentiment was echoed by means of their second costume selection that had these phrases and others written or embroidered on it.

The work ended with the performer splatting what I assume to characterize blood once more on a sheet of plastic that was hung up upstage of the gallery area. From our perspective all you would see was the substance being shed from the opposite facet of the plastic, inflicting us to surprise and know that the destiny of the Goner was not form. Marikiscrycrycry shares that this work is a part of an ongoing choreographic analysis strand exploring instruments of horror making and the stay context and this work undoubtedly started to the touch on the horridness that looms in our on a regular basis realities. 

As this can be a work in course of, there are lots of provocative threads that require some extra weaving collectively, that which I’m sure will develop intricately over time. In the identical breath, as a growing work, it already holds such presence and resonance. The repetitive dancing and shaking that opened the work is one thing I may have simply watched for longer. It’s courageous and distinctive in comparison with many issues I’ve seen in my time in London.