GOOD COP BAD COP | ART REVIEW
Experimentica Festival 2013, Chapter Arts Center, Cardiff, Sat 9 Nov
Generally, I dislike performance art – unless it is done well, in which case, I am its avid fan. Sadly this is not very often. One of my favourite events ever was the ‘electronic Hamlet’ staged in Germany during the late 70s. Of course, I wasn’t born yet (erm…!) but reading about this as part of my English degree was such a thrill – Hamlet a gurning mute with a disconnected voice playing from hidden speakers; a dead horse on stage dripping blood into a goblet; Ophelia dressed as a racing car driver… The symbolism and surrealism that I love were present in equal measure.
And that is why it pleased me to be alive, and there, for the Good Cop Bad Cop’s performance staged as part of Experimentica this year. As we entered the theatre space, we were handed ear guards and given a warning that this performance would be “very loud”. In front of us, one of the ‘cops’, John Rowley, sat suited and composed as he read all parts from the infamous Bill Grundy/Sex Pistols interview of 1976. This was the one that destroyed Grundy’s career, and elevated the Pistols to notoriety. The band themselves were represented by glowing UV tubes and, as with so many features of this performance, the symbolism could be taken any number of ways – is this because UV lighting usurped the humble incandescent bulb as the Pistols did pop culture/pop music? Is it because they, like the band/art in general, provide(d) a kind of illumination? Any number of interpretations seemed possible, with themes of change, death of the old, destruction and rebellion playing throughout.
It was then that the other ‘cop’, Richard Huw Morgan (dressed in workman’s gear and protective goggles), revved up his chainsaw and, in earnest, went about carving up an antique Welsh dresser. As he did so, smoke began billowing from behind us, and loud, live music thrashed. On a screen in front of us, images of GCBC’s past performances flashed swiftly by, mixed in with advertising for the pair’s Pitch show on Radio Cardiff and random disturbing imagery (did I see Richard naked?).
The effect was that of being hit by a mass of subliminal messages whilst having ones senses (eyes, ears, smell, etc) assiduously rearranged/assaulted. I have read of forms of meditation in which all of the senses are utilised in order to bring the seeker into ‘the here and now’. I feel like this performance also achieved that, but in a more brutal way – a way that pointed to the methods by which our modern culture seeks to overpower and influence us, with words, sounds, images, etc. Mass control, through mass media, via mass medium, as it were.
A riotous 20 minutes, this was a performance that played in my mind for many hours and days afterwards, and my brain is still reeling from the potential numbers of interpretation on offer. Perhaps all of these is ‘the right one’. Or, none. All I can really be sure of is that this was performance art at its purest, and yet also its filthiest – good cops, bad cops, yes, yes indeed.
words: MAB JONES