Gabrielle Civil

GABRIELLE CIVIL is a black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer, originally from Detroit MI. She has premiered fifty original performance art works, most recently with Wild Beauty at Velocity in Seattle (2020). Her performance memoirs include Swallow the Fish (2017), Experiments in Joy (2019) and (ghost gestures) performance writing (2021). A 2019 Rema Hort Mann LA Emerging Artist, she teaches creative writing and critical studies at the California Institute of the Arts. The aim of her work is to open up space.
Photo credit: Dennie Eagleson
The Spring Tour
(how to retrace what was never preserved)
(The stage)
I’m so sorry I’m late—oh dear, I can tell you’ve been waiting.
I’m new. I’m new. So gather round.
Yes, now, don’t be shy.
We are on a schedule. Yes, Yes.
The work is fragile—so no cameras allowed.
But you’ll need your valuables.
YOUR EYES YOUR EARS YOUR NOSE YOUR TONGUE YOUR FINGERTIPS
Wait does everyone have them? Or as many of them as you can?
YOUR EYES YOUR EARS YOUR NOSE YOUR TONGUE YOUR FINGERTIPS
Okay—let’s go now. Please follow me.
*
(The gallery)
Welcome to the Spring Tour!
As I mentioned, you are my first group with this work.
The work changes, of course, so every group is the first group.
And I am always new.
*
[She consults her notes. She clears her throat.]
*
What a great pleasure it is for me to take you
on this expansive exhibit of the great artist.
Before we begin, here are some things you should know:
1) She was born as a surprise to herself and everyone else.
2) Despite an allergy to snow, she lived in Minnesota
for a large part of her early adulthood.
3) There her addiction to audience participation
got her into a number of serious scrapes.
4) As you can tell by the work, in winter, she often felt like giving up.
5) Major Influences were Yoko Ono, Ruby Dee, her mother
and the theme song to Fame.
[She bursts into song.]
Fame! I’m gonna live forever. . . I’m gonna learn how to fly. Hiiiiiigh!
[She recovers. She clears her throat.]
6) Recently, we’ve learned that almost all of her planets were lined up in
the sixth and seventh houses—you know, work, community and relationships.
7) She owed money on her income taxes every year until she declared she was a
poet and a performance artist and then the government considered that money
contaminated counterfeit.
[She spits.]
The feeling was mutual.
8) At the end of winter, she found creative ways to combat disembodiment.
9) She went for long periods without being touched.
[She pauses. She holds, unholds her breath.]
10) The bathrooms are out that door in the hallway on the left.
If you get lost, follow the circle back to the beginning.
Any Questions? Let’s move on.
*
(The front foyer)
Now hold out your hands.
This was one of her first patented holographic machines.
Here she combined her interest in fancy handbags from Amsterdam
with science and the work of Cuban-American artist Félix González Torres.
*
[She consults her notes again.]
*
According to my notes, here’s how it works.
-
LEMONDROPS
[She passes around a drawstring bag.]
Take the holographic spark and put it in your mouth.
Close your eyes. Let the machine work.
Isn’t that a beauty?
*
(The hall of wonders)
[She turns off the lights in the hall.]
-
FLASHLIGHT