Performance, 1 hour, 1998-2001.
Using excerpts from two versions of the Faust legend, Christopher Marlowe’s Tragical History of Doctor Faustus and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, the two men share the final hour before damnation. This performance conjures a dialogue and spectacle that examines the power of desire in alliance with the determined cellular trajectory of survival and continuity. This project incorporates references to the development and manifestation of the HIV-resistant CCR5-DELTA 32 gene. This mutant gene appears in Europe in the midst of the catastrophic Bubonic plague of the 14th century. With the knowledge of the regenerative instincts of bodies, languages and cities, Faust and Faustus defy damnation and identify salvation in the possibility of infinite embarkations from immaterial geographies.
