Library Art Kiosk

In this durational performance titled Entangled in Time I am exploring the struggle of upholding binary identities while attempting to collapse time. I am committed to ceramics in exploring issues around identity because of the material’s simultaneous ability to be restrictive and fragile. The various pokes and pushes on the walls of the bottomless shells signal the struggle of negotiating boundaries of identity. The use of solid black and white colors for the shells aim to communicate the rigid binaries within which I have been forced to understand my gender. The circular path taken in the performance is referencing the Buddhist wheel of becoming, better known as Bhavachakra. Bhavachakra is a visual representation of the buddhist view of life which states that existence is a cycle of life, death and rebirth. The performance nears its end when I receive acts of care from my friends as they help me take off the shells and clean my cuts. The burying that takes place at the end of the performance is another attempt to play with and collapse time.

— Prinshu Gautam, Class of 2023