It is said that our life flashes before our very eyes before we die.
No Face challenges glory and honor in violent masculinity. The work borrows its title from Kotetsu ‘No Face’ Boku, a mixed martial artist whom the artist witnessed being defeated by submission in 2013, a year after his a one-time (pun intended) ONE Lightweight Championship title.
The performance opens with a facially unrecognized figure standing at the room’s corner with his arms stretching a white towel. At the same time, a white ceramic bowl with a replica of human tongue is passed around among the audience.
Within the space and amongst the audience stands two other performers, one of which is holding a light stick, waving it as if he were in a VOCALOID concert while choking the third performer from the back. The third performer calmly struggles as he wraps his hands with a pair of familiar MMA hand wraps, presenting a non-linear situation of pre- and during fight. As this subtle yet potentially scuffling interactions are happening, a large-scale projection appears. It plays an off vocal of CosMo’s 2010 millions-hits 初音ミクの激唱 (The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku) accompanied a music video by an animation producer known as Aono. Y.
The projection ends about the same time with the hand wrapping but is followed by the vocal only version of the song, which is slow-moving in the beginning but eventually picks up its pace to an almost humanely impossible tempo. The concert goer remains waving his light stick while the performer he chokes bites a cauliflower and slowly rises his head facing the ceiling.
Accompanying this ‘second act’ is a (ideally) life sized holographic projection of Miku in her初音ミクの激唱 blue gothis costume and signature wings.
The performance ends with the third performer doing a submission tap and as the singing ends, the waving stops and the towel bearer throws his cloth onto the floor. The three performers slowly retreat back towards the audience and conclude the piece.
Cauliflower ear is a deformity of the organ caused by trauma which is experienced commonly by fighters. The irreversible condition may be visually unpleasing but interestingly has been considered as a badge of honors. The performance borrows the irony and reimagines if the mouth was to be deformed instead. One would be unable to verbally confront violence and at the same time a reflection of the masculine’s socially acceptable refusal of defeat.
Submission is also beyond the private but existentialist in nature, hinted by the soundtrack which if were to be lyrically understood or visually attended to, narrate a story of an individual transforming into a more powerful being by accepting one’s weakness.
The piece is motivated by a socially perceived hyper masculine sports but provides elements that can hint various approaches towards challenging one’s political, cultural, social, religious and gender identities.
Within social context, the performance is a plea towards honoring submission, acknowledging personal weaknesses and proposes that there is no shame in surrender. It aims to tackle the emasculated attribute to be a positive outlookin life, at least before it starts flashing before one’s very eyes.
