PERFORMANCE

EMPIRE ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN

Truman Brewery Performance 2023

Ava Grauls' performance "Empire on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is a multi-layered work that explores the complex relationship between personal memory, official histories, and the enduring legacies of colonialism.

The performance unfolds within a glass box, creating a sense of containment and observation. Grauls deliberately places it in dialogue with her painting, "SOUTH! Towards the Dark Continent," pairing two distinct modes of historical storytelling within the same space. At its thematic core, the performance delves into Grauls' uncanny feeling of trusting her own childhood memories, which often contradict documented historical accounts, particularly concerning a British-owned asbestos mine in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) where she lived. This discrepancy between personal experience and official records becomes a central point of her exploration. Grauls describes these conflicting narratives as "schizophrenic moments," which she sees as a common perspective for the "forever immigrant."

The performance incorporates a script and an accompanying A4 screen-printed publication. This publication functions as a hybrid journal and school textbook, citing the research that inspired the script, including interviews with former miners, records from House of Commons and Lords Debates, and various historical artifacts. A central figure in the performance is "Britannia," who delivers a script echoing historical imperial rhetoric. Lines such as, "The Empire loves our citizens! Those at home and those at the farthest frontiers. That serve most ardently. to hold the centre aloft, above the degradation of savagery, towards the administrations, of these civilisations. Building economies! Building cities! Building governments! What we have thus far built. We have loved!" highlight this engagement. 

The performance concludes with the perspex box being filled with packing peanuts, along with the Britannia figure. This symbolic ending suggests either an enclosure or perhaps a re-packaging of imperial narratives. Overall, "Empire on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" stands as a critical and introspective performance, utilizing personal narrative to challenge and expose the often-managed nature of collective memory and the lingering effects of historical power structures.

Performance with Genoveva Krumova and photos by Dimitri Vranken

PERFORMANCES

2023 Empire on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (performance)
2023 Landsale Informercial (performance) 4’18
2022 Dear Customer (performance)
2022 A Girl Called Steve (performance) 3.27
2019 Ricehouse Test (installation) 1’10

COLLABORATORS

Catherine Geaney – Concept development
Erin Frazier – Camera
Jackie Enzmann – Camera / Producer
Andria Lorentzen – Camera
Brittany Fitzpatrick – Actor
Aleck Skeie – Actor
Amanda Smith – Dancer
Peter Bell – Actor
Yi-Wen Yeh – Camera
Lorena Capella – Sound
Colleen Michel – ActoR
Roger Holland – Actor
Theo Cascades – Music Producer
Dimitri Vranken – Camera
Yoko Ishikawa – Voice over actor
Dominic Varney – Actor
Vicky Huang – Actor
Ziwei Lu – camera
Yijia Wu – sound recording
Genoveva Krumova - Performer

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