The Goldfish Bleeding in a Sea of Sharks – Wrestling Club
In 2022 and 2023, artist Thais Di Marco and WORM explored The Goldfish Bleeding in a Sea of Sharks – Wrestling Club. This project manifested as a series of artistic actions that reflected and reacted to the impacts of Neoliberalism and Neo-Liberal ideology in the art market, that in turn changed and conditioned the social role of art marking. The project consisted of a performance piece, a series of panels, NTFs and web art investigation, a research trip, a radio show, and a short movie. An extensive team of artists engaged in thinking about potential political intersections, to either reform or destroy the neoliberal art market as a major totem of white supremacy, heteropartriacalism and colonial domination.
The guiding motto for the piece was the Lucha Libre, a Latin American form of wrestling, where social characters can fight. The form is not necessarily violent in itself, but the entertainment of the show relies on the multiple layers of the event and, above all, on the support the fighters receive from the audience. With Goldfish… the artists fought each other to win the prize of “the most successful business model in the world”, repeating neoliberal lies such as meritocracy, talent and selection processes.
Events Diary 2022 – The Goldfish Bleeding in a Sea of Sharks – Wrestling Club
Premiere in Amsterdam – FLAM 17th to 22nd of May
Panel: Neoliberalism and the Art/ist | Framer Framed | 30 June
Festival Premiere at Welcome to the Village in Leeuwarden | 15 / 16 / 17 July
14th September – Premiere WORM Rotterdam
14th September | Kick Off workshop WORM Rotterdam
Writing Manifestos with Anahi Saravia Herrera, Jemima Young & Performing Borders
16th September | Fight 2 WORM Rotterdam
Wrestling Performance – The Goldfish x Decolonising The Netherlands
Club Night | WORM Rotterdam
Queer Brazil x Club Night – The Goldfish Bleeding in a Sea of Sharks | Funk, Brega, Reggaeton
17th September | Fight 3 WORM Rotterdam
Wrestling Performance The Goldfish x Patriarchy
Premiere Utrecht at Het Huis – October
The panels were conducted and mediated by Chirriro Geuzebroek, and consisted of three moments of collective reflection: the first about neoliberalism and how artists and cultural workers can learn how to recognise its operations in their daily practice; the second focused on cultural workers already integrated into the working field and are being tokenised, isolated or retaliated by having worked with activities of decolonization, intersectionality, queer politics and immigration; the third how to fight against fake news and have dialogues with political rivals in the post-truth era.
The online elements of the project were investigations and experimentation around the impacts of social media on the communication and marketing of artworks. How do social media platforms capitalise and commodify artists until the point they become unpaid workers struggling for their survival, producing artistic content for an endless advertisement on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and others? Adding to this investigation is the world of financial crypto capitalism of the NFT market.
The project incorporated a research trip to La Paz, Bolivia, to experience and study the only exclusively traditional feminine Lucha Libre Modality, thinking about it through the lens of Latin American anarcho-feminism and being hosted by social movements and cultural centres that see art-making as an effective tool for social transformation and the confrontation of gore capitalism.
The project was a co-production between WORM and the director Thais Di Marco. It was sponsored by AFK, FONDS21, and Het Makers Kapitaal, is partnered by FLAM Festival, Het Huis Utrecht, Welcome to the Village and others.
CREDITS:
Director: Thais Di Marco
Dramaturg: Felizitas Stilleke
Artists: Clara Saito, Avantika Tibrewal (Tikka), Qiaochu Guo
Costume Design: Draga Dina
Scenery: Roxy Capriles
Panel Organizer: Chihiro Geuzebroek
DJs: Parisa Madani and Anna Luna
NFTs: Tommaso Buldini
Professors/ trainers: Diego Oliveira, David Klaber, Roxanne Foxy, James Rae Parnell.
Production: Charlien Adriaenssens
Many thanks to: Janpier Brands, Evelien van de Sanden, Milone Reigman, Mark Timmer, Raoni Joyan Saleh, Marina Orlova, Elise de Leede, Seven and father Odú Obará.
Project supported by AFK, FONDS21, Het Makers Kapitaal and has partnership with FLAM Festival, Het Huis Utrecht, Welcome to the Village and others.