Forthcoming—
Temporality of Survival: A Portrait of Cancer
“Cancer is a rare and still scandalous subject for poetry; and it seems unimaginable to aestheticize the disease.” – Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor
Temporality of Survival: A Portrait of Cancer is a new autobiographical work that dares to depict an experience of cancer through multi-media performance. Inspired by writer-survivors such as Audre Lorde, Anne Boyer, Walela Nehanda, and Caitlin Breedlove, Caitlyn’s upcoming performance adds her experience of cancer to the slim record of brutally-honest accounts told by survivors themselves.
As cancer, and its treatment, is an immersive, multi-sensory encounter in which time is simultaneously accelerated, stretched, distorted, and urgent, the performance utilizes movement/embodiment/dance, soundscape, and layered imagery to portray this deeply personal and nuanced experience. Facing her personal journey head-on while confronting cultural attitudes about cancer, Temporality of Survival gives voice to what goes unspoken, seeking to metabolize trauma while providing a poetic context for audiences to understand what a living experience of illness and mortality is like from the inside.
This work would not be possible without the generous practices of Culture Mill: the gifting of their studio space and their investment and belief in artists and the stories they tell.
This project is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and Durham Arts Council, local grants administrator.
Collage by Brian Howe
