Bare Life Study #1
September 9, 2005
VideoBrasil Festival of Electronic Art and Performance
São Paolo, Brazil
This group performance inaugurated Coco Fusco's exploration of contemporary military scenarios as intercultural encounters. Drawing on her training in military interrogation with "Team Delta", Fusco sheds some light on the spectacles of subjection inside contemporary American military prisons in this street performance.
In response to reports that American soldiers order prisoners to clean their cells with toothbrushes for hours at a time, Fusco staged this group performance in front of a building that represents United States interests in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Fusco assumes the role of a military policewoman and reenacts the scene of cleaning the ground with a toothbrush in front of the U.S. consulate, together with 50 drama students dressed in orange suits, acting as her prisoners.