Antonia Wright I Scream, Therefore I Exist 2011
© Antonia Wright
The video I Scream, Therefore I Exist, belongs to a series of actions performed by Wright in different swimming pools. The blurred line of the water surface acts as a divider between two contrasting and simultaneous realities. In the underwater scene, the artist swims into the frame and screams, and then swims back out of the frame. The viewer never hears or sees the artist catching her breath above the water. The tragic impossibility of successful communication alternates with the artist’s amusing appearances literally “out of the blue.”
Above the water there is an almost still image of a typical Caribbean resort with palm trees. The video was filmed in the Bahamas, although it could be Miami, where the artist lives, as the intense blue of the pool is a color so present in the Miami landscape. A couple of elderly people is the connection between above and below, and set a second story line in the video. One lady is exercising vigorously until her partner appears, to slowly walk out of the water and leave. Even though Wright did not plan it, this couple’s presence triggers interesting associations of generational concerns, especially in her hometown where there is a large elderly population.
The books of Cuban American exile writer, Reynaldo Arenas, are an important source of inspiration for Wright. In them, he relates how, when in jail, his thoughts of swimming in the ocean would keep him sane. In I Scream, Therefore I Exist, the water is a form of catharsis, an escape, and a trap. In this video, as in other of her works and actions, Wright pushes her body to the limits.
Identification
Title
I Scream, Therefore I Exist
Production Date
2011
Object Number
2017.196
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, gift of Jorge M. Pérez
Copyright
© Antonia Wright
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2017.196
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Color video, with sound, 4 min.
Dimensions
00:04:00
Visual Description
“I Scream, Therefore I Exist by Antonia Wright is a video performance artwork from 2011 that is four minutes and nine seconds long.
In the opening frame an older white woman with golden hair appears bobbing up and down in place. The old woman in the pool engages in light aerobic activity. Her blue bathing suit straps rise from the water’s surface segmented by the position of the camera half submerged in the pool, fluttering between glimpses above and below the surface revealing her tightly fit one-piece and gyrations of loose skin that wiggle in the water. The first few dips between the surface establish a beachside resort where cabanas are visible above the water along with palms and white umbrellas scattered throughout the frame. The next descent underneath reveals another character, a younger woman swimming into the frame wearing a black two-piece bikini who enters from the right directly engaging with the camera. This new character lets out a loud scream contained in the volume of the water. Bubbles rise to the surface as the only indicator of her expression. The older woman in the background continues her aerobics unfazed as the underwater woman swims off camera to the left. The motions of the camera dance between realities while the old woman continues to practice her aerobics later to be interrupted again by the girl who returns to scream into the camera. The sequence continues as movement patterns shift between the woman working out and the screamer. After a few more passages in and out of the frame the screaming woman disappears. The camera pans right showing us a third character, an old man hovering through the water in pursuit of the woman with the golden hair. After a few moments the screaming girl rises into the frame, obstructing the view of the old man who wears a white and blue lined suit complimenting his white hair. The two lovers exit the pool unaware of the commotion that took place under the surface followed by one more belt from the screaming woman which seems to be her loudest yet. “
