project image
Eyal Perry
MASSAGE

first performed on June 22, 2017
Glasshouse Project, Brooklyn, NY
performed three times in 2017

CAMILA CAÑEQUE

Miao Jiaxin, Kenichi, Nakajima, Ming Liu

New York, NY

MASSAGE
CAMILA CAÑEQUE

The “Massage” performance is part of El Purgatorio project, which consists of a nine-chapter investigation corresponding to nine rooms of a website-based building and hosting different treatments for us, the patients. Founded on the evidence that our society is increasingly exhausting and exhausted (physically, thematically, spiritually, environmentally, etc.) and trapped in a ghostly wheel, this allegorical space is conceived as a sanatorium inspired by a Roman bathhouse. It represents an act of negation towards the narratives of progress—settled on incessant acceleration and accumulation—and presents inaction as both an image of resistance and resignation, as if a hangover caused by an accumulation of layers over the centuries has ultimately generated a passive entity, restless but unable to move. For this piece, I lie down while being massaged by therapists attempting to combat the chronic pain and tensions of my body. The duration varies depending on what has been agreed with the art space. It can be from a ten minute massage to a three hour massage. The items used are a massage table, a bathrobe that I wear before and after the performance, and four towels. Also, some cream or oil and a music device are required. Considering the need and the desire to be massaged by more than two hands, there have to be volunteers, in plural. As a first step, the music starts in order to generate a relaxing ambience that transform the atmosphere of the art space. The second step is the installation of towels. Three of the four towels are placed on the massage table, one as a base for the body, and two as a comfortable pillow for the head. The volunteers will use the remaining towel to cover my body. Any jewelry or accessory has to be removed. I have to take off the bathrobe and lie face down on the massage table, finding a position that doesn’t hurt. At this point, and as a last step, I communicate with the volunteers by saying “I’m ready.” They enter the piece as therapists and the performance starts. It will end when the massage ends. It should be enjoyed.