82. Nina Katchadourian, Under Pressure
From comedy to unlooked-for catharsis
This piece is about love. Here is what this is:
A woman has locked herself into a tiny airplane bathroom and made a fluffy collar from toilet seat covers. Her head wrapped with a winter muffler like a turban, she sets her phone against the mirror and proceeds to take a video of herself lip syncing David Bowie’s part in the 1981 song “Under Pressure.”
She then drapes her gray sweater over her head in a kind of pathetic, droopy cowl, and takes a second video, this time performing Bowie’s counterpart in the song, Freddie Mercury.
Bowie and Mercury never performed the song live together, never gave interviews about it. 33 years after its release, the artist Nina Katchadourian excavated its meaning with her haunting performances as the two singers, whom she interprets as a couple breaking apart—one hurt, one doing the hurting. When her face distorts with anguish as she lip-syncs Mercury’s “Why can’t we give love one more chance?” the piece moves from comical strangeness to profound, unlooked-for catharsis.
In all of her work, Katchadourian is closely, lightly attentive to the world—in this case, not only the song itself, but the compressed environment of the airplane bathroom, the absurdity of that tiny pressure chamber where you’re not supposed to linger—and certainly not perform, using its disposable materials as a farcical costume. She reveals the humor and the unexpected beauty in both, implicitly asking: what if everything in the world meant something?1
Note: to watch the video, play this YouTube recording with the sound muted, and play the song separately. It may take a few tries to get the sound synced up, but it’s worth it.
Links:
This Artist Makes Some of Her Best Work in the Airplane Bathroom – David Krasnow, TheWorld, March 24, 2018
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This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 words on 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary. Through December 31, 2026.
I’m looking for ideas for this series — have something you’d like me to consider for inclusion? Please feel free to leave a comment!
From “Seriously Funny,” Jeffrey Kastner’s essay in the book Nina Katchadourian: CURIOUSER, University of Texas Press, 2017.
Couldn't hear the singing- only the gallery noise. But thank you for posting this wonderful piece!
Another thing I love about this series is your documentation. I've learned a lot! Thank you for that. I enjoyed this Katchadourian because I was totally unaware, but now have engaged in her art. Thank you....