the american vicarious in collaboration with The Invisible Dog Art Center are presenting a socially distanced performance installation in Brooklyn. A quick subway ride – yes I’ve finally plunged back in big toe first – and you arrive at the hosting table. In the middle of the block on an open lot is a forty foot shipping container with a door. Static Apnea takes place one person at a time in there.
Static Apnea is a discipline in which a person holds their breath underwater for as long as possible. After serious COVID preparations by the hosts, I entered into a world I was told would be dark. I fumbled around. I saw light and went toward it. I was advised to get as close as possible and I did. You know there is an actor in there and there was (safely).
In the performance I saw, Isabella Pinheiro is standing behind a microphone. I learn that 9:02 seconds is the record set by a woman holding her breath. A relatively obvious question is then asked. What happens if you try to go longer and fail? All of this time, lighting enhances the mood, enveloping the mystery.
For such a short performance, I do not want to say much more except that the dialogue is very meditative and thought provoking. I stood in a claustrophobic box in the middle of a pandemic. One which causes respiratory failure. Breathing is the focus of the piece. Your experience is to listen and absorb. The rest is how your mind processes that brief period of time.
At the end, I was disoriented and it took me a bit to find my way. The next visitor was ready to go. After some air purging and sanitizing, she went in. I walked down the block to the subway pondering the experience and admiring its uniqueness. And also how it set me off kilter just enough.
Our current times are allowing artists to emerge, create and challenge us in new ways. I just heard Claws is coming back in October. That one took place on a telephone call. Static Apnea is free. Why not give it a try? It is under ten minutes long, something new to experience in a live format and quite absorbing for this particular moment.
Static Apnea is scheduled to run until October 17, 2020. Tickets are free and reservations are recommended.