Seconds after introducing himself, performance artist Miguel Gutierrez writhed about the screening room and squeezed himself between two uneasy students. The students, alarmed, glanced at each other and quickly separated. Visibly undeterred, Gutierrez continued his serpentine gesture and embraced the wall in front of him. At least thirty seconds elapsed before Gutierrez assumed his place in the center of the room.

Gutierrez is one of many distinguished artists to visit the Macaulay Honors College as part of the Meet The Artist series. He has enjoyed success throughout the country, most notably in San Francisco and New York City. His work diverges from the conventional NYC formalism and explores unchartered, contemporary waters.

Throughout the night, Gutierrez showcased recent productions, including one where the audience, situated upstage, is figuratively subsumed in the performers’ rough, dynamic movements. Dancers engage in passionate, steamy kisses with others of the same sex and thrash across the floor. Amidst the chaos, performers chant incoherent, disparate phrases; the group sounds possessed, almost satanic as it repeats, “the devil inside, hot hot hot hot.”

Students met the piece with general discomfort and an overwhelming sense of confusion. Gutierrez justified the reaction as typical of any group unfamiliar with his brand of performance.

Gutierrez also introduced DEEP (Death Electric Emo Protest) Aerobics, a radical form of self-expression. Check out my attempt at DEEP Aerobics below!