Fried Sweat (2008)
By Mika Rottenberg
Fried Sweat, 2008 Single channel video installation Duration 2 min. Dimensions variable Courtesy Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York; Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York Installation views, Nottingham Contemporary, 2012 Photo: Andy Keate As the sound of Indian music – sarangi, drums and human groans – draws us towards a peephole in the gallery wall, the film Fried Sweat is glimpsed like a surreal, kaleidoscopic scenario unfolding in semi-secrecy. In a small, carpeted space reminiscent of an oriental parlor, a dreamlike assembly of odd characters is gathered to perform various seemingly significant acts: a bodybuilder flexes his muscles to produce sweat that drips into a frying pan and quickly evaporates; a body-contortionist bends into an impossible shape only to implode in a cloud of white dust; and a kneeling man simultaneously chops two planks of wood in half with his bare hands. The performances that we witness through this peephole may seem like the stuff of “freak-shows” and fairground attractions, where audiences were drawn by the sensational abilities and physical attributes of the objectified other. But here, despite the bizarre setup, the power dynamic between watcher and “w…
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