LAB - Power-Point for the 25 of March 2010 - LAB2 [developed throughout the term]

Throughout this term, apart from the research, scenographical set and interviews I have been developing, I have created the performance composition, time line. Apart from that and as said before in this blog, it was also created the sound by the Music Composer Duarte Cardoso. All this material came together in a power point in order to Lecture all the process. As the M00-0364 performance will be a combination through performative actions and a lecture I have decided to Lecture all the process I have been developing.

Canha

LAB – Sound by Duarte Cardoso [9th of march to the 15th of march]

Duarte Cardoso has been working with me since 2005. He completed his 5 years University Education in Portugal in Grand Piano for Concert and mostly played contemporary artists. Apart from that, he has been extremely interested in composition and started his own personal studies on composition before his Post –Graduate Education achieved in the US. Duarte Cardoso has been working and composing for my pieces and it must be acknowledged that that this is a work where Duarte has the authorship to express his creations within the concept proposed.

By several meetings over skype I said to Duarte that once more I just had the need to give him my interviews in mp3 file and from that point would be his own interpretation from the concept and research I have been doing so far. Duarte created a superb piece and if any adjusts will be upon the feedback I will get on the 25^th of March 2010 at the LAB2.

Canha

“You must be awfully secure in your masculinity.” [16,17,18,19 of March '10] - at Psychology and Educational Sciences University - Portugal

The performance piece Performed in Portugal was based on Eve Ksofsky Sedgwick essay in the book “Constructing Masculinity” by Maurice Berger, Brian Wallis and Simon Watson. “You must be awfully secure in your masculinity.” is a performance where the process of preconceived feminine actions are being performed on my preconceived masculine body. Moreover, preconceived masculinity's are vanished and replaced by a common non labeled performative actions. It is to sate that there is a need to evolve beyond sexual classifications assuming that a preconceived feminine gesture can be performed in a preconceived masculine body. Having said that, the Performance was developed upon my research on the 1^st Unit at Wimbledon College of Art. “You must be awfully secure in your masculinity.” was performed at the Psychology and Educational Sciences University in Portugal were it must be acknowledged that the majority of the future psychologists state that they would not take appointments from Homosexual people. Having affirmed that, the Performance was then created and developed to this audience and would not have the same impact in London, Berlin, Montreal or New York. After the Performance a debate about the theme and the performance took place at the University Auditorium.

For the ones interested on a feedback, I asked for some comments on Facebook:

" i think your performance interestingly shows how "masculinity" relies on notions of femininity for its existence and completion, thus being "secured" by the very concept that supposedly negates it :) " - Deidré Denise Matthee

"sweetheart - was so good to see you and your work too...Isontinue to be shocked at how conservative and parochial young people here can be...there was nothing shocking for me about your performance and again I believe you create a sensitive balance between revealing themes to your audience in order that they expand their response, view, feelings about the theme and doing it in a way that is not violent or aggressive of so in their face that they freak out...and yet, here in Porto...men and women were shocked:( how come they are not shocked every day when they go into newsagents and gas station shops and have porn right in front of their faces, even on the shelves at the height of children...or shocked when someone is violated because of difference or shocked because of racism against someone from brasil, ukraine etc" - Amanda Frost

"I thought the performance was amazing. The thing that most got me was the expressed hate on your face while you where dancing as a cheerleader. To affirm "masculinity is tirany" is still in my head and it is an evidence of a masculinity that it is still a fact. Those where the stronger parts for me but the piece is more than just what I expressed. Is Feminist. It is about femininity - I' ve never been too much secure in my own feminity because I dislike passivity. In addition, explores the body in the way we relate to it: dislocated body with no space to places - communal. Art has its utility at last. This one screams and rips off exclusive thoughts. Big kiss." - Alexandra Oliveira

Canha

LAB - [8-3-10] - [12-3-10]

Throughout the week 10, Monday the 8^th of March and Friday the 12^th of March, I have been developing the scenographical set at the wood workshop and preparing a schedule for the Performance – Lecture I was about to present on the 25^th of March. I did encounter several problems while deciding how should the tv-set structure be constructed. The final decision was influenced by the costs and the time. With the sketch changed and a reasonable lower price, I could start the process of building the structure within a short period of time.

LAB

The Lab week will be a fragment of my direction intented to achieve for the MA level. Since the objectives of the final performance M00-0364 is a lecture/performance, I dissected the scenographical space in order to address part of the performance. By performing this fragment will generate the understanding on how does the heaviest lecture section of the performance works for the audience in terms of botherness. It must be acknowledged that this section will be the segment with the most clinical and advanced vocabulary concerning reactions or procedures when having HIV (CD4, Viral Load and Lipodystrophy). The section will be lectured by me and the explanation will be from PowerPoint's and addressed as a performative action. Having stated that (and by performing that) I am not considering to minor the audience’s boredom since this section will still be long, calm and detailed. Within the description this monotony will be maintained on purpose in orther to make them realize that the repetitiveness vanishes when they start taking notes on a note book that will be explained as given at the interm-show performance. This fraction will also create botherness in order to jump out from it in the next section which will be one of the powerful picks on the overall MA performance. For those who kept the boredom as a passive receiver and want to continue with a none political and social consciousness, a hardcore and punk experimental music piece will be performed which begins by stating “If there is no political consciousness there is no aliveness but rather death of the human brain”. Having affirmed what is going to occur on the performative fraction, I do emphasise that the background will be filled with many TVs that on a loop show different people that have been interviewed about HIV/AIDS but in silence. During the MA level performance fractions of this interviews will be shown but not on the Lab week. It must be also said that the hardcore and punk experimental music piece will be inspired on one of the interviewed that manifests no political or social consciousness what so ever, no interest, no curiosity, no enthusiasm. As previously stated before, the lecture at the LAB2 will question how does the heaviest section of text works for the audience; how would the audience feel and react on the note books, how does the music created by the Music Composer Duarte Cardoso impacts as a provocation and how do small contradictions create discourse.

Canha

Gene therapy offers hope of cure for HIV Doctors rid man of the virus with bone marrow transplant breakthrough.

Doctors have succeeded in ridding a man of the HIV virus by giving him a bone marrow transplant in what they claim is the closest treatment yet to a cure for the disease. The remarkable case gives new impetus to the development of gene therapy for HIV which could ultimately replace the need for expensive and toxic antiretroviral drugs. Instead of taking drugs for life, HIV sufferers might instead have a one-off treatment that would leave them virus-free.

The 42-year-old American had been infected with HIV for a decade. He was treated with antiretroviral drugs in Berlin, where he lives, for four years to hold the disease in check, but then developed leukaemia. Since being given a bone marrow transplant two years ago, he has not taken antiretroviral drugs to control HIV and has had no resurgence of either disease. He is believed to be the longest HIV-free survivor who was previously treated with antiretroviral drugs. Full details of the case are published for the first time today in The New England Journal of Medicine. An editorial in the journal says it "places further emphasis on gene therapies" for HIV, adding: "The case paves the way for innovative approaches that provide long-lasting viral control with limited toxicities for persons with HIV infection." The man's treatment began with a search by doctors at Berlin's Charité Hospital for a bone marrow donor with a genetic resistance to HIV. One of the strangest features of the disease is the way some people who have been exposed to the virus on many occasions remain uninfected. Twenty years ago, it was noticed that certain prostitutes in Nairobi remained uninfected despite exposure to the virus through thousands of sexual contacts. It has since emerged that some people carry a mutation of a gene (CCR5) that confers protection against HIV. In Western populations an estimated one to three per cent have the mutation. Dr Gero Hutter, a haematologist at the Berlin Charité Hospital, and colleagues tested 61 potential donors before they found one with the CCR5 genetic mutation, who agreed to the operation. The American recipient of the transplant, who runs a holiday rentals business in the German capital, has undergone regular checks in the two years since the treatment. The doctors have tested his bone marrow, blood and tissues and found no sign of HIV. "For as long as the viral load remains undetectable, this patient will not require antiretroviral therapy," they say in the journal. Speaking to The Independent yesterday, Dr Hutter said there had been several previous reports of patients being virus-free following treatment but none to compare with the latest case. "The difference is that in our patient we had a plan. It was not an accident," he added. "It is the longest time someone who has had antiretroviral therapy and stopped has lasted without the virus rebounding. Normally it rebounds within weeks. It is the closest we have come to a cure." Dr Hutter said a bone marrow transplant would be too risky as a routine treatment for HIV and too difficult to find donors with the right genetic make-up. But a modification of the approach using gene therapy to render a patient HIV-resistant could work, he said. Even a costly treatment could be worthwhile. The price of treatment with antiretrovirals in Europe is €70,000 to €80,000 (£63,000 to £72,000) a year compared with a one-off cost of €20,000 to €30,000 for a bone marrow transplant. Dr Hutter said: "When I started in medicine, HIV was completely untreatable. Now the situation has changed completely. Perhaps our case is a glimpse of hope for the future." Professor Jay Levy, an Aids specialist at the University of California, and author of the US journal's editorial, said claims that the patient had been cured of HIV would be premature because of the virus's capacity to hide in other parts of the body including the brain, gut, liver and lymphatic system, from which it could always re-emerge. "Nevertheless, the results... provide further encouragement for those examining approaches to treatment that reduce CCR5 expression in persons with HIV infection," he writes.In 2007, an estimated two million people died from Aids and 2.7 million were newly infected with HIV.

25 years of research: The HIV virus

When the discovery of HIV was announced in 1984, US politicians predicted that a cure for Aids would be found within five years, but it is still a distant prospect. Over the past 10 years, a cocktail of aggressive antiretroviral drugs has been developed to help keep the effects of the disease at bay. Eliminating it has proved far more difficult because of the virus's unique nature. HIV integrates itself into an infected person's DNA and attacks the cells the immune system sends to attack it. Once infected, these T-cells take the virus deeper into the body. Gene therapy is a new approach that harnesses the natural resistance to HIV shared by 3 per cent of people. Experts hope that by tweaking a sufferer's DNA, they can achieve "long-lasting viral control".

By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor

12 February 2009

“Fault”

By stating on my previous writings that fetishism should be considered as a normal variation of the human sexuality and should be taken in consideration the self consciousness of the individual body, I do admit that this statement should be revised and furthermore taken into another level. I do still agree and believe that fetishism for HIV positive people doesn’t disturb me since fetishism should be considered as a normal variation of the human sexuality. This implies a self consciousness of the individual body and therefore each one has the responsibility for their own bodies. Through many researches I did conclude that there are also HIV positive people that on purpose try to infect HIV negative people. This obviously is a concern for many HIV positive people who have fought in order to vanish discrimination. I must say that when someone is infected with HIV the “fault” is not from the one who has the virus. The decision to use protection has to come from both sides but as we do have the urge to make someone guilty, the blame on the oder takes place. Having said that, I can not understand the frustration of being infected and then having the need to infect others. This range and urge to infect others normally happens through sexual contact (I do emphasize that there is a need to ejaculate inside the body in order to be infected); through rape or the person living with HIV is in a bar or pub, chooses the victim and with a nidlle self inflinges himself or herself and does the same procedure to the victim which may not even realise. If the victim hasn’t realized I am secure that the PEP wouldn’t be eficient because there is the need to take it within 72 hours.

Canha

M00-0364 Scenography - Lab

M00-0364 Scenography

M00-0364 | Performance Text [part of the text]

CD4 & Viral Load

CD4 cells are the white blood cells which organise the immune system’s response to some microorganisms, including bacteria, fungal infections and viruses. The CD4 count is the measurement of the number of CD4 cells in a cubic millimeter of blood. CD4 counts can vary considerably between individuals. A person who is not infected with HIV may be anywhere between 500 and 1200. While the CD4 cells play an important role in fighting viruses, HIV has the ability to infect CD4 cells and use them to produce more HIV copies. Even wile a person with HIV feels well and has no symptoms, millions of CD4 cells are infected by the virus and destroy each day, and millions more CD4 cells are produced to replace them. A CD4 count between 500 and 200 indicates that some damage to the immune system has occurred. If your CD4 count falls bellow 250-200, an HIV positive person is recommended to start treatment with HIV drugs because this is the level at which the risk of AIDS-related illness is greatly increased. If an HIV positive person has relatively high CD4 count, no symptoms and is not taking anti-HIV drugs, then the only need is to measure the CD4 count once every three months.

Viral Load tests estimate the number of HIV particles in the liquid, or plasma part of the blood. They do this by looking for the HIV’s genetic material, which is called HIV RNA.The result of viral load test is described as the number of copies of HIV RNA per millilitre. All viral loads tests have a cut-off point below which they cannot reliably detect HIV. This point is called the limit of detection (LOD) and varies from one testing kit to another. However, just because the level of HIV is too low to be measured by these tests, it does not necessarily mean that the virus has disappeared entirely. The virus may still be present in your blood, but in amounts too low for the test to pick it up. Having undetectable viral load is desirable for three reasons:

1- A very low risk of developing AIDS.

2- A very low risk of developing resistance to the drugs.

3- A very low risk of transmitting the virus.

Lipodystrophy

Body fat changes in HIV are known as lipodystrophy. Four patterns of body fat changes are being seen in people with HIV who are taking potent combinations of anti-HIV drugs often called Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy.

These are:

1- Central fat gain which is within the abdomen and makes the belly feel harder.

2- Between the shoulder blades.

3- Around the neck.

4- In the breasts.

5- Loss of fat from under the skin (which becomes most obvious in the arms, legs, buttocks and face, resulting in a facial wasting, shrunken buttocks and prominent veins on the arms and legs).

Only this particular kind of fat loss is specific to HIV infection, Fat gain may be caused by metabolic changes that also occur in HIV-negative people. A few people will also develop small, unusual fat deposits on other parts of the body, usually the limbs and trunk. These are called lymphomas. Exercise improves both the heart’s ability to pump and the muscles’ ability to use oxygen. It includes activities like brisk walking, running, swimming, cycling, rowing, even vigorous sex and dancing.

V-Effect – Yes, HIV positive people do fuck like all of us.

A total of 30 minutes of any of these activities per day at this level will reduce your risk of heart disease.

V-Effect – If vigorous sex you may want to make it last more than 30 minutes, I would.

Canha

M00-0364 clinic | video editing

M00-0364 thoughts & monologues | M97-1276 | video editing

Stage Design for M00-0364

Since my photoshop hasn't been working properly, I had to draw the Stage Design by hand. More information will be updated shortly with a better understanding of what I have been planing for the M00-0364 performance Stage design. Moreover, new experimentations will be posted shortly.

Canha

Conversations and discussions raised with one of the volunteers – M91 - 1565

From the series of monologues I filmed on the 10^th and 11^th of February, interesting conversations and discussions raised with one of the volunteers – M91 - 1565. We concluded that the point of view towards HIV is getting a new dimension for some people. Nowadays, it seams that young people are not preoccupied if they get infected because it is known that is possible to live with medication. This situation can be uncomfortable for some people that longer live with HIV since they have gone through fear and have seen many of their closer friends dieing due to the virus in the 80’s and 90’s. It is also a fact that many people have announcements online hunting for sexual intercourse with people living with HIV. This obviously extends to a level of fetishism that hasn’t been accepted within society throughout many decades. As an example the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM, which I have been analysing for the past four years and therefore I concluded that it is the most outdated manual I have ever analysed, states that a fetish causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of life. I must rather agree with Psychologists and medical practitioners that at the present time regard fetishism as normal variation of the human sexuality. Having said that, post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP is the new next morning after pill that prevents HIV when knowing someone had a risk sexual intercourse with someone and that the ejaculation occurred inside the body. In this case, people have to start taking the drugs after exposure to HIV within 72 hours in an attempt to prevent infection with the virus. Currently in Britain, PEP is usually offered to people who might have been infected with HIV through work, such as health care professionals. Obviously the PEP is not being considered within democratic principals since it is just being given to heath care professionals. To conclude, I affirm that it can be scary such radical changes within a short period of time and that thoughts and actions occur with a blinking of an eye. It is to ask if mentalities should be redefined evolving at the same pace as thoughts and actions. Honesty fetishism should be considered as a normal variation of the human sexuality and apart from that should be taken in consideration the self consciousness of the individual body.

Canha

Sperm

Methylcellulose (or methyl cellulose) is a chemical compound derived from cellulose. It is a hydrophilic white powder in pure form and dissolves in cold (but not in hot) water, forming a clear viscous solution or gel. It is sold under a variety of trade names and is used as a thickener and emulsifier in various food and cosmetic products, and also as a treatment of constipation. Like cellulose, it is not digestible, not toxic, and not allergenic. Methylcellulose is often used in the pornographic industry to simulate semen in large quantity, in order to shoot movies related to fetish.

Useless/Useful participatory fashion performance and exhibition | Text by Milka Panayotova

Apart from the excellent description on Useless/Useful participatory fashion performance and exhibition by Milka Panayotova I must say that this was what I call a collaborative performance. Moreover, everyone involved created an excellent bound and also worked hard for the performance. Milka Panayotova could easily interpret the complexity in the choreography diagram above that I have developed for the performance.

"Some days ago I got contacted by a colleague and friend of mine, Filipe Canha, who was directing a show and was in need of a second performer. I had already accidentally read an article on the project in question the previous day, the concept of which involved our senses besides seeing, so although a coincidence it turned out a great opportunity of collaboration for me both as a performer and concept creator researching on ways of (non)seeing.

Useless/Useful participatory fashion performance and exhibition is an ongoing project that involves both graduates and current students from UAL as well as other professionals. Episode one, which was presented yesterday at the Rag Factory in Brick Lane, was, as the name suggests, very much about fashion and audiences' participation. The costumes, created by Christina Tso, looked at the touch and hear aspect of fashion, rather than solely rely on the visual effect. The costume I performed in had sound sensors attached to it and therefore sounds were generated according to body movement. Even though the rigid parts of the costume along with its cables and little gadgets did restrict the fluidity of movement, it allowed me to perform a consistent and yet simple choreography that exhibited the garment and at the same time brought it to life. Dancer Marta Masiero wore an unsusual black tutu that unveiled thousands of tiny blue lights that somehow resembled colourful sea corals that moving under water.

Along with the performance director, sound technician, set designer, make up artist, graphic designer, film maker, cameramen, photographers, and many more who were there for help and support it was possible to put up a great piece of work in a matter of weeks. I was not there from the very beginning, but working all day with the same people on the same thing makes you familiar with it all in no time.

The end part of the performance was about audience. It aimed at showing spectators the costumes, letting them interact with the garments' qualities and possibilities. As we had two performances one after the other it was good to see how they changed according to the number of audeince. The sencond one proved to be the best and we even got a spectator who got so interested in exploring the costumes that by the end of the show she was believed to be one of the performers. Indeed she was, as we all merged together to bring the piece to an end. The whole project was documented step by step, so I will update with links to material from the actual show.

I really enjoyed working on the project and got to meet lots of great people. I am looking forward to future collaborations and whatever future results may bring, I must say that this time the timing was perfect, given the performance I am presenting next Tuesday explores clothing and fashion in a way very close to the themes of senses and audience participation that Useless/Useful is working on."

Text by Milka Panayotova

M00-0364 interviews | Exhibition [05/02/2010]

The “M00-0364 interviwes” video exhibition took place at the Observatory at Wimbledon College of Arts. From the feedback's I have got the video was presented in a very professional way and what most triggered the audience was the answers to the questions, the body language and capacity of some interviewed to articulate in an immediate response what has been asked or commented by a physician, a doctor an artist and The Guardian newspaper. What has to be unfortunately pointed out as a negative aspect of the exhibition is that there were tutors at the College and there has been no interest from them to appear and comment on the exposed working progress from the VLP students. The constant disinterest from the tutors has grown and moreover leaves the students without a cohesive feedback. Having said that I do not by any means dismiss my colleagues comments on my work but I underline the careless behaviour by tutors in this institution.

The video installation was presented in 16.9 format projected in a wall.

Canha

Editing Video - Personal Comments | based on "Thinking Behind" - Diagram [04/02/2010] "

During the interviews video editing I started analysing the interviewed behaving upon each answer or comment. I concluded that 3 to 4 interviewed had the capacity to evoke the thinking on the question or statement and that could be perceived by their body language and expressions. Even not knowing some of the questions it is to state that the political consciousness and the capacity to comment and/or guess is part of their curiosity behavior. I would definitely state, concerning the “Thinking Behind" - Diagram that these people could be part of the category “those who get it” and “those who get it and do not get it”. I do underline once more that not knowing is not the fundamental in this interviews but rather the capacity to evoke the thinking on the question or statement. It can be perceived from the interviews that there are also people that are part of “those who do not get it” due to cultural differences which can be translated as an extreme honesty and vulnerability. The categories “those who get it but realise there is nothing to get”; “those who are very confused”; “those who do not get it and realise there is nothing to get” and “those who realise there is nothing to get”, are also implicit in the video. That is definitely what I state as "no political consciousness what so ever", no interest, no curiosity, no enthusiasm. I must agree with something that I read stating that if there is no political consciousness there is no aliveness but rather death of the human brain. Certainly it must have been or Bertolt Brecht, Paolo Virno, Guy Debord, Elfriede Jelinek or Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti which are my favourite thinkers in what concerns a change within political and social consciousness and awareness.

Canha

On 4 Feb 2010, at 10:38 am, Filipe Canha wrote:

As you may know tomorrow is the VLP's 1st Friday and we have to put up work. I do understand that the heating has to be fixed but the University had plenty of time to do so since we complained before Christmas. As many VLP's have material for tomorrow afternoon's presentation in the MA studio, I do ask if we can get our stuff in order to present work tomorrow. Moreover, it is just shocking how unorganized this system is that things are planned from one day to another, from one morning to an afternoon and everyone has to follow this unprofessional way of dealing with what should be dealt professionally. I do hope to see some changes from now on on this matter.

Attentively,

Filipe Canha

M00-0364 | Questions and Statements [02/02/2010]

1 - What cells are attacked by the HIV virus?

White Blood Cells AKA T Cells. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) attacks the CD4+T cells which basically prevent our immune system from infections.

2 – What is the CD4 count?

CD4 cells are a type of white blood cell that fight infection. Another name for them is T-helper cells. CD4 cells are made in the spleen, lymph nodes, and thymus gland, which are part of the lymph or infection-fighting system. CD4 cells move throughout your body, helping to identify and destroy germs such as bacteria and viruses. The CD4 count measures the number of CD4 cells in a sample of your blood drawn by a needle from a vein in your arm. Along with other tests, the CD4 count helps tell how strong your immune system is and indicates the stage of your HIV disease. It also guides treatment, and predicts how your disease may progress. Keeping your CD4 count high can reduce complications of HIV disease and extend your life.

3 – How can the HIV virus be easily eliminated outside the organism?

The HIV viruses can be easily eliminated with bleech for about 15 minutes (1 deciliter of bleech in 1 liter of water); Ethanol 70% for about 15 minutes; more than 60ºC heat; detergents.

4 – What are the differences or similarities between HIV1 and HIV2?

Both forms of HIV are spread through sexual contact, blood, and mother-to-child transmission. The symptoms of HIV-1 and HIV-2 are exactly the same and individuals cannot know which type they have without tests performed by a physician. HIV-1 is found around the world, while HIV-2 is restricted to a very small portion of West Africa. Countries where HIV-2 is common include Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast. Outside of West Africa, HIV-2 is extremely rare. Places where it is most common are countries with strong ties to West Africa like Portugal, Angola, and France. In the United States, only about 100 confirmed cases of HIV-2 have been reported. These cases have mostly occurred in people who have traveled to West Africa. Moreover the the viruses come from different monkeys.

5 - Comment on the statement.

“One may or not loose its identity or even have or not have the sensation of loss when discovering she/he is HIV positive. This is personal and it is different from each individual depending on many factors.”

(Filipe Canha, London, November 2009)

6 - Comment on the statement.

“Throughout everywhere and in every century, the individual is unwell, however, unwell through societie’s gaze, function and upon its fixed norms. The patient’s comunication is elaborated within the comunication based on relations from the individual to the social…”

(Herzlich et al., 1991: 13)

7 - Comment on the statement.

“HIV/AIDS should be considered as a cronic disease.”

(Mario Rui Andre - Physician, Lisboa, November 2009)

8- Comment on the statement.

“Researchers found that one in five people with an HIV diagnosis had been harassed, threatened or verbally assaulted in the past 12 months. Many reported ignorance and prejudice from within the medical profession, particularly from GPs and dentists.”

(“People with HIV alarmed by levels of stigma in UK”, http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/29/hiv-study-stigma-attitudes discrimination)

Canha