condomcloud

[condomcloud]

INITIAL IDEAS

Above photo by Sami Emory for VICE.com review of Art AIDS America, Alphawood Foundation, Chicago 2017.

Here are some initial ideas I want to put out into the ether.

The laundry trolley (in the image below), or something similar, will be perfect for a mobile condom inflation station to cart the helium and other materials while providing a place to hang the ribbons. Brigitte Smeza will be assisting me with this as a performer, assistant, and occasional documenter.

Also, the step stool is shown because I'm interested in getting a 5XL dress and standing stationary on the stool, bending down to gift the condom balloons to passers by - my dress falling all the way down to the ground. This elevated position will be a striking image.

I'm thinking of putting small clips on the ends of the ribbon. This would allow for multiple forms of attachment and have more substance than just a knot. It might be too labor intensive or too expensive, but it would be great. They could be clipped anywhere on my costume. I could also clip them to passersby (with their permission, of course!). In the last iteration of this piece the ribbons were around my neck - I like this - but perhaps they're attached somewhere else this time...or multiple places...

Know that I will be making the ribbons shorter than in the past - only about three feet so they are more manageable for people to take with them and I'll have a little more clearance above me (especially for the street performance where overhanging signs and branches could be a problem). So the cloud will float just above my head.

I'm not sure what the weather will be like, but I'm sensitive to sun and heat. I'm looking at dresses that are %100 Linen (preferred) or maybe cotton. But loose and cool. I'm most attracted to the sleeveless ones that simply drape from the shoulders, but then the shoulders are bare. I found some long sleeve options, too. I'll get a variety to test.

Cage skirts could be used to hold inflated condoms and they would show! This will be a great image!! I imagine wearing a big cage hoop skirt, red or white depending on the base color - to contrast, and inside it will be filled with inflated condoms...holding me up...I found a small/short one for Brigitte, perhaps a contrasting color.

I'd like to dye the white dresses hombré from deep black/red at the bottom through bright red to white to white at the top - as if we walked through blood and mud. BUT somehow I want it to look more chic than halloween. A good dye job will help - a quality hombré - but maybe some sparkle or velvet or something to contrast/elevate it. We'll see...it might be too much.

Side note: I do see Brigitte's role as an acolyte in this performance but admit that I'm not totally comfortable with the hierarchical imagery and want to go on record as knowing it's not great. But I'm still going forward and will try to find opportunities to offset that power dynamic.

We'll also need quality sunglasses, a ton of sunscreen, perhaps a light scarf or poncho (for the neck/arms), and back-up hats or parasols. AND water of course!

[condomcloud]

CONDOM CLOUD | Remounting the 1995 performance for Art AIDS America (5:17 min)

December 3 | 2016 | Alphawood Foundation | 2401 N. Halsted Street

Condom Cloud is a performance art piece created and performed by Joseph Ravens that captures the artist at a time when he was grappling with feelings of fear, anger, shame, and loss during the AIDS epidemic. Sculptural costume defines a protagonist who struggles to survive his own impending annihilation.

Photos: Video Stills

[condomcloud]

CONDOM CLOUD | The original piece circa 1995, performed for the camera (2:36 min)

TEXT by Joseph Ravens:

condom cloud casts a shadow on my sanity stealing satisfaction replacing it with pseudo-safety  condom cloud keeps chasing me something like an enemy promising protection within its rubber walls a snare to catch my liquid lust cannot share will not trust one little tear and i’ll be dust condom cloud come rain come hard love marred by rubber inconvenience a rubber unseen fence: “some things are not allowed beneath the shadow of a condom cloud” condom cloud come rain  come hard come all picnic by my bloodstream beneath the weeping willow watch the world float by red screams into my pillow red screams out loud: “you can find me in a crowd, i’m the one beneath the condom cloud!” condom cloud come rain  come hard come all fall into my bloodstream dive into my shame swim among my fear help me find the blame nothing stays the same condom cloud keeps chasing me something like an enemy promising protection within its rubber walls capture calls i can hear our mothers crying

Photo: CONDOM CLOUD by Joseph Ravens_1995 VHS Still from Video by Mark GE / Joy Farm

[condomcloud]

CONDOM CLOUD 3.0 will be chronicled here. I will also use this platform to reflect on the first and second iterations of this performance artwork, originally created in 1995. - Joseph Ravens

BLOG FORMAT >>> Scroll to the very bottom to view chronologically.

In July Ravens will re-embody CONDOM CLOUD, a performance originally created in the 1990s in response to the AIDS epidemic, when suffering was met with societal silence. A spectacle born from the urgency of Silence = Death, the piece gives voice to those ignored by mainstream media. 

For this third iteration, Ravens stands beneath a cloud of helium-filled condoms, offering them to passersby and requesting that they keep the memento mori until it deflates—as a reminder that silence is still deadly today.

CONDOM CLOUD speaks across decades, echoing the oppression of marginalized communities then and now. Our current social crisis must be met with VOICE—abundant, unified, and deafening in its demand that we will not descend into authoritarianism!!!