Couple In The Cage
The performance art piece of a Couple in the Cage is of two people living in a cage pretending to be Amerindians for the audiences that come to see them. The artists Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Pena. Underneath the performance that the artists put on is a satire of institutional racism that took place in the past while also calling to attention the fact that it is still somewhat present today. The audience of the performance contained a mix of reactions between some believing that the performance was real and other knowing that it was fake. The Couple in the Cage is a performance art piece that relates directly the history of violence and abuse against primitive people by westerners and western culture while alluding to current problems
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They are pretending to be fascinated by the culture they see and the people who are watching them. The couple take pictures with people, tell stories along with other actions and are also being fed fruit from those who are “in charge of the cage. The performance artwork took place in 1992-1993 throughout many major cities from London to Chicago to Irvine and others. It consisted of Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Pena in the cage pretending to be natives or ‘savages’ that are unfamiliar with western culture touring different cities. Coco Fusco is a 32-year-old, at the time, female Cuban-American artists and Guillermo Gomez-Pena is a 37-year-old, at the time, male Chicano performance artist. With them were others who pretend to be their handlers and tell the audience what is happening. The parameters of the piece are, Coco and Guillermo remained silent except when Guillermo was asked to tell a story in his native language, and they seemed to not interact with the audience except when a member of the audience paid for a photo, story, or to see the male’s genitals. The artists themselves are dressed up in simple and primitive clothing along with clothing relating to western culture such as a cheetah luchador mask and baseball hats. Coco and Guillermo also perform tasks such as reading, watching tv, drinking Coke and being fed fruit by the
They are pretending to be fascinated by the culture they see and the people who are watching them. The couple take pictures with people, tell stories along with other actions and are also being fed fruit from those who are “in charge of the cage. The performance artwork took place in 1992-1993 throughout many major cities from London to Chicago to Irvine and others. It consisted of Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Pena in the cage pretending to be natives or ‘savages’ that are unfamiliar with western culture touring different cities. Coco Fusco is a 32-year-old, at the time, female Cuban-American artists and Guillermo Gomez-Pena is a 37-year-old, at the time, male Chicano performance artist. With them were others who pretend to be their handlers and tell the audience what is happening. The parameters of the piece are, Coco and Guillermo remained silent except when Guillermo was asked to tell a story in his native language, and they seemed to not interact with the audience except when a member of the audience paid for a photo, story, or to see the male’s genitals. The artists themselves are dressed up in simple and primitive clothing along with clothing relating to western culture such as a cheetah luchador mask and baseball hats. Coco and Guillermo also perform tasks such as reading, watching tv, drinking Coke and being fed fruit by the