A semiotic study of The Couple in the Cage: A Guatinaui Odyssey

Abstract

This article discusses performance as an artistic manifestation. Facing the challenge of making the
general characteristics of this genre more precise, I made use of semiotics as the main tool to analyze a
performatic act and compare it to two works of the same nature, in order to highlight the existence of recurring
phenomena on different cases. Through Greimasian semiotics analysis, a study of the performance "The
Couple in the Cage: A Guatinaui Odyssey", conducted by the Latin American artists Guillermo Gomes-Pena
and Coco Fusco was made. During the act, the artists locked themselves in a cage and spent three days
making part of the expositions in museums in Europe, USA and Mexico. This performance was compared to "Rape Scene" (1973), by Ana Mendieta and "First Woman at the Moon" (1999), by Aleksandra Mir; being one of the main objectives of this investigation the gathering of elements which are common to all works, enabling a more precise observation of these phenomena in order to demonstrate that these works have aspects through which it is possible to group then under the category of "performance", for this language is different from other artistic manifestations (such as music, theater, painting, etc.) and guarantees its autonomy via a series of characteristics which belong strictly to the genre.