Performance
Marking Out 3 Count

This performance centres the referee in professional wrestling - the figure who enforces order and calls the shots. In the “three-count” the referee slaps the mat in a countdown that determines the winner and loser, but the outcome is already scripted - the winner is predetermined. The three-count becomes a theatrical device used to heighten drama, building and stretching tension. 

In a match the referees role is largely procedural, ready to intervene only in the event of real injury, arms crossed in an “X.” The referee, embodies a paradox - both essential and superfluous, present to sustain the illusion of legitimacy. 

The countdown that would normally culminate, circulates. The promise of resolution is endlessly deferred. Within this loop, performers riff on the metronomic structure of the count, distorting, and ornamenting its cadence. Like jesters or clowns, they exaggerate the task to absurdity, overextending the body. Precision slips into excess, discipline into delirium. The count becomes incantatory, ritualistic, even contagious. 

Performers:

Arshiya Abhishree

Anika De Ruyter

Claire Leske

Flynn Dakis

Hayley Roe

Hillary Goldsmith

Imogen Britten

Katherine Lanterna

Nate Killiby

Rebecca Jensen

Sam Osborn

Scarlett Prescot-Mason

Texas Nixon-Kain

 

Videographer: Jordan James Kaye

Sound: Marco Cher