The Resilience of the 20% is a sculpture cast from the bashed clay remnant of Cassils’ Becoming An Image performance, and acts as a monument to the resilience of queer communities. The title underscores a sickening statistic: in 2012, murders of trans people increased by 20 percent worldwide. Cast in bronze and weighing nearly two tons, this massive sculpture forms the centerpiece of Monument Push.
.jpg)
“No one morphology could be offered as exemplary for all transgender lives. Cassils wrestled with the need to document and the problems of evidence, arriving at a work that refused to image the human form but evoked it as an object of work, transformation, and purpose. As an abstract monument, The Resilience of the 20% draws on transgender experience and politics while also standing as an allegory of self-determination and resolve.”
Monument Push is a four-hour performance of collectively pushing the 1,900 pound bronze Resilience of the 20% sculpture pushed through the streets of Omaha, NE in tribute to its LGBTQ History. Together with the Bemis Center of Contemporary Art and members of Omaha’s LGBTQI+ community, Cassils worked with allies and advocates to choose local sites of trauma, violence, celebration, resistance, and resilience. Selected sites included the largest prison in the midwest and the site of Omaha’s first pride parade.
The world premiere of Monument Push was performed at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts on April 29, 2017.
“As I took my turn helping to push the 1,900-pound mass, I struggled not only against its weight, but to somehow gain purchase, to fit my own hand into the jagged imprints of that violence. It was a brief test of my own endurance and a profound experience of empathy.”
The Monument Push documentary captures the arduous performance, interviews with community collaborators, and the diverse collective bodies of the performance, Omaha, and the American midwest. Monument Push makes space for unseen and obliterated histories of marginalized communities located in America’s “flyover country.”
Cassils
Monument Push, Documentary Film
(Omaha Nebraska), 2017
Courtesy of the artist
Sites Chosen By: Dominique Morgan, Amy Schindler, Jenny Heinemann
Monument Push was facilitated by Curator Alex Priest
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha Nebraska
Push Captain: Eli Rigatuso
Pushers: Erin, Blayney, Alan Brondom, Vicki Carruthers, Chris Cook, E. Cram, Brian M. Dietrich,
C.D. Hardy, Karen Harris, Jenny Heineman, Victoria Hoyt, T. Jadrou, Linda Janssen, Josh Johnson,
Michael Johnson, Kim Kehloft, Holly Kranker, Karrisa Krybel, Kelly Larder, Michael Latty,
Emiliano Lerda, Ryann Lynn, Jackie Miren, Kris Miren, Dominique Morgan, Mick Mulhall,
Alex Nelson, Ellie Novak, Monica Ortiz, Alpesh Patel, Alex Priest, Chris Prinz, Risa Puleo,
Amy Schindler, Davina Schrier, Christine Schulte, Todd Simon, Amanda Smith, Shan Sumerman,
T. Sweeney, Andrew Tatreau, Adam Tyus, Vivienne Tyus, Allison Huerter Tyns, Carol Uvence,
Nicholas Watson, Mike Von Weihe, Amanda Zasada
Directed By: Cassils
Director of Photography: Alison Kelly
Second Camera: Harrison Martin
Sound Recording: Nicholas O'bradovich
Foley Sound: Cristy Michel
Photographer: John Ficenec
Editor: Cassils, Arshia Fatima Haq
Colorist: Harris Charalambous
Sound Design: Kadet Kuhne, Albert Ortega
Thank You:
Tyler Owen, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art
Holly Barrett, Downtown Improvment District
Troy Davis, Curb Appeal Salon
Dr. Andjela Drincic, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Mike Gaughen, City of Omaha
Audio Helkuik
Cameron Helkuik
Jessi Hitchins, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Eris Koleszar
Michael Latta
Reverend Debra McKnight Urban Abbey
Lynn Mytty, PFLAG
Deputy Chief Mary Newman, Omaha Police Department
Kate Parrish, River City Gender Alliance
PVS Steel
Tanner Reckling
Julie Reilly, Omaha by Design
Ryan Sallans
Queer Omaha Archives
Old Market Business Association
Omaha Public Art Commission
The plinth was fabricated by PVS Steel
"Stand Up"
Written, composed and sung by Dominique Morgan
Stand Up #blacklivesmatter
www.dominquemorgan.com
Twitter: @dommorganmusic
Instagram: @dommorganmusic
Produced by Dmajishin at Icon One Music
Performance took place on April 29, 2017
© Cassils 2017
.jpeg)
Cassils
Resilience of the 20%
(Body of Work, Ronald Feldman Gallery, NYC), 2017
photo: Cassils with Megan Paetzhold
Courtesy of the artist
A Fiery Attack on Gender Norms | TCP Meets Cassils
The Creators Project
Supervising Producer: Sebastian Ischer
Directors of Photography: Flemming Lauresen
Associate Producer: Nicole Cone
Voiceover Artist: Kara Weisenstein
Editors: Daniel Ferry, Eduardo Araujo, Dave Gutt, Jeb Banegas
Assistant Editor: Ryan Mcglade
Executive Producer: Gerhard Stochl
Editor-In-Cheif: Marina Garcia-Vasquez
Channel Manager: Anna Graizbord
Executive Producers: Shane Smith, Eddy Moretti, Suroosh Alvi, Hosi Simon, Ciel Hunter, Sara Rodriguez
VP, Post Production: Mike Daniels
Director of Post Production: Veronica Mukhia
SUpervisor of Production: Lily Nguyen
Post Production Manager: Michael Skinner
Ingest Operators: John Stiles, Charis Hoo, Ohan Boodaghians
Post Audio Engineer: Jamie Collazo
Colorist: Gabriele Cassia
Director, Video Distribution: Jordan Debor
Quality Control Operator: Shelly Kamiel
Director of IT: Ariel Rubio
Equipment Manager: Dan Meyer
Rights & Clearances: Hollister Baffert, Victoria Kelsey
Head of Music Licensing & Archival: Ricki Askin
Music Supervisor: Taryn Kawata
Accounts Payable Manager: Joanne Smith
Production Coordinator: Sergio Noriega
Production Assistant: Gabriela Dematteis
Music Courtesy of: Jingle Punks, Audio Network
Archival Courtesy of: Cassils, Getty Images
The Creators Project Productions
©2016 Vice Media, LLC.
Cassils
Resiliance of the 20%, Installation Image No. 5
(Melt/Carve/Forge, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia), 2016
photo: Cassils with Zachary Hartzell
Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
Cassils
Monument Push, Performance Still No. 3
(Omaha Nebraska), 2017
photo: Cassils with John Ficenec
Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
Cassils
Monument Push, Performance Still No. 1
(Omaha Nebraska), 2017
photo: Cassils with John Ficenec
Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
Cassils
Monument Push, Performance Still No. 4
(Omaha Nebraska), 2017
photo: Cassils with John Ficenec
Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
Cassils
Monument Push, Performance Still No. 2
(Omaha Nebraska), 2017
photo: Cassils with John Ficenec
Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
Cassils
Monument Push, Performance Still No. 2
(Omaha Nebraska), 2017
photo: Cassils with John Ficenec
Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
Cassils
Monument Push, Performance Still No. 6
(Omaha Nebraska), 2017
photo: Cassils with John Ficenec
Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
