Lady Clown Other (2017) Five Years London.
Michael Bryan’s review on Emma Starkey’s work Lady - Clown - other
April 2017, Five Years, London N19
It’s always slightly unnerving to be present in a white cube space, not so much as an ethnically “marked” body as spectator, but the sheer whiteness of the gallery seems to uncomfortably engulf and neutralize whatever power a radically created art piece had outside of it. Which is why the performance by Emma Starkey is an unnerving experience, because of the willingness to accept and embrace the whiteness of the gallery space within and without.
The performance begins with Starkey sat in front of a table with three objects neatly placed. Of these three objects, the face paint is the first to be used, Starkey applying with at first messy, then sensual strokes, slowly disappearing in the process. A pile of cotton wool balls is the second item on the table, this time Starkey chews one ball at a time, saliva leaking from her mouth and occasionally generating a retching reflex. The consumption and wearing of two brightly white objects, accompanied by the stuttering of a digitally slowed-down video displayed alongside the table became a repulsive sight to see.
Punctuating her white facial mask is the third object; a roll of red ribbon tape, slowly unveiled and sensually tied around her neck, the red mirroring the images of blood shown in the video. The performance becomes increasing visceral as Starkey proceeds to shed her white clothing. Standing up, her newly marked face contrasts with the rest of her nude body, causing an disturbing dichotomy of white as object and subject.
The concept of “alien” bodies, present in an unmarked, White space was recently discussed in the book space invaders (2003), however author Nirmal Puwar made references to non-White, non-male bodies. The striking thing about Starkey’s performance is that she has seemingly achieved the very same effect utilising the colour white. Out of the three objects used, the face paint is significant, because we see a young woman, racially identified in society as White covering her face with bright white paint, disappearing in the process.
Of the books recently written about the concept of whiteness, only two (Unmarked by Peggy Phelan and White by Richard Dyer) attempt to uncover and unpack its qualities, possibly due to its default societal status it seems to avoid analysis. Seeing a white female artist doing the same within her performances is an unsettling experience, because she dares to question the very foundations of Western society, one in which “whiteness” is seen as the pinnacle of existence.