Virtual Virtue

Description:

Virtual Virtue was a forty-minute performance led by Victoria Singh alongside three other performers. They were dressed in revealing nurse costumes in a set inspired by a doctor’s office. The performance integrated various media, including video monitors and projections as well as a live experimental electroacoustic soundtrack by Derek Champion and an assistant.

Using the computer and the internet as a source for sexual fantasies and the proliferation of pornographic material, Singh recreated a cyberesque world of an x-rated website. The piece explored the taboos of public displays of pleasure and candid discussion of desire as Singh performed as a hypersexual caricature, plainly playing up different fetishes while being in on the act —her seduction can be seen as taunting as well. Homemade videos of dolls simulating intercourse were juxtaposed with clips of hardcore pornography. Pushing the medical roleplay to the extreme, Singh continued to subvert the dynamics of voyeurism by shifting to a grotesque display of flesh wounds and body horror in the second half of the performance. These gory depictions were not pleasurable, but ironically more acceptable to display or discuss in the public arena.

Video documentation is available upon request.