Canada / USA
www.cassils.net
Cassils use their hyper muscular body to undermine and interrogate systems of power and control. They view their body as a conceptual sculpture, a critique of the social pressure we feel to make our bodies conform to an aesthetic, gendered and cultural ideal. Their method is multidisciplinary and crosses a spectrum of performance, film, drawing, video, and photography, often employing many of the same strategies used by FLUXUS and guerrilla theatre.
Cassils has exhibited in London, Germany, at the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwigin Vienna, Austria, at Center for Performance Research and Art in General in NYC, at the Yurba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, at USC Center for Feminist Research in Los Angeles and at Art Basel Miami Beach in Florida. They are a founding member of the Los Angeles based performance group The Toxic Titties with whom they have been working with for the past ten years. Recently, Cassils embarked on a series of solo physical performances (Hard Times and Tiresias) informed by Los Angeles body building culture, Greek mythology and experimental film. These performances animate the frozen look of a film still creating an effect that is not theatrical, but cinematic. The audience has the experience of being on set, witnessing a “take.” All aspects of production are present, which reveals how the image is constructed: lighting, special effects, choreography, sound, and highly trained and manicured body.