Last night, I watched Animal, one of the most powerful, beautiful, provocative, and disturbing pieces of performance art I think I've ever seen. The artist happens to be my cousin, Cassie (aka Mama Cass), who's modeled for many of my photographs. She's spent years pushing the boundaries in her work but this piece is truly in a league of its own. Using a distressing recent family event as inspiration, she displays a tenacious fortitude in this that I've not seen in her previous work and can hardly recall seeing anywhere else, actually. This is pure guts, raw and dripping with overwhelming emotion. I am extremely proud of her, not only for the outstanding execution but for the sheer and utter fearlessness exuding from this short video. You rarely see such bravery.
I hate having to give the NSFW warning as a disclaimer to artwork (because art should be above such a warning) but I will anyway. If it isn't immediately obvious from the stills above, there is nudity.
Watch the video here: Animal by Mama Cass And make sure you have the volume turned up, the sound is as important as the visuals.