SHAVING THE NIYOG (2022)

Live Performance Recording

7 minutes 35 seconds

Medium: Performance, video, installation, brass, coconut, painted rocking horse, cast aluminum bolo tie, Filipino textiles

'Shaving the Niyog' explores this tension and my journey toward self-acceptance as existing in many cultures at once, all the time, and not denying any part of them.

I wore a leather cowboy outfit, a nod to both American masculinity and queer expression. I invited participants to grate coconuts using a traditional Filipino coconut grater while I demonstrated with one I've made. We share stories while grating. This performance was connective and celebrated hybridity. Afterward, they got to take the shaved coconut with them in baggies.