Rubber TIT

Earlier tonight, performance artist Tari Ito and jazz saxophonist MASA jointly presented Rubber TIT in Ida Noyes Hall, University of Chicago. Their setup included two projectors, a wall-sized screen, the frame of a wooden cube, long shoelaces, and a giant rubber balloon––the orange breast or “rubber tit,” the pièce de résistance.

The performance began in total darkness with only the soothing sounds of MASA’s voice in heavy reverb. Responding to these echoes and later the improvised jazz lines of MASA, Ito emerged out from under the rubber tit and the cube––a veritable metaphor for coming out of the closet. Next the lights came on and she proceeded to weave shoelaces around the cube and the floor. Appearing anxious, she with great eagerness pulled the imprisoned rubber tit out of the bondaged cube and then attached an electric air pump to it. The liberated breast inflated in slow, sweet time and soon surpassed both the cube and Ito in size. After examining the fully inflated, giant rubber tit, she shoved it into one side of the audience, tossing it back and forth. Against this rare interaction of audience and performer, MASA blew out hip arpeggios and a funky dance groove from her saxophone.

One highlight of tonight’s performance was a moment of very climactic juxtaposition on the projector screen: Ito positioned the rubber tit to the front of the room and then retreated back to a side of the cube… while the rubber tit rested solemnly, her gyrating butt was projected against both the shadow of the tit and the tit itself. Coupled with a few program notes, Ito’s performance tonight revealed with uncanny creativity her ability to limn the emotional labor of self-identity, an issue that has captivated and troubled her since coming out in 1996.

After their performance, Ito and MASA answered many audience questions regarding musical improvisation, rubber and skin, performance art, artist and musician, maternal interpretations, breast and tit in the singular, the physical space between the cube and the screen, and the lesbian scene in Tokyo, among other topics.

––Patrick