Chandelier

Chandelier was first performed in a squatter camp in Newtown, Johannesburg as the camp was being dismantled by the notorious red ants. Cohen was dressed in precarious high-heeled shoes and a tutu that he had fashioned from a chandelier, and he walked through the camp, interacting with the residents and enacting his own physical vulnerability alongside theirs.

This work, like many others that Cohen has made, seeks to identify with and understand the position of marginalised people in society. As a gay Jewish man, Cohen has himself been subjected to such marginalisation and his performances aim to challenge perceptions about gender, race and sexuality.

This work drew attention to the situation in the inner city of Johannesburg while at the same time challenging the squatters themselves to consider Cohen’s provocative representation of his queer identity.

Photo by John Hogg.

Artwork courtesy of Artist and Stevenson Gallery.