Bi-Annual Print Publication Boy.Brother.Friend Collaborate With Performance Artist Bonono For the Fourth Instalment of Their Artist Commission Series

Contributor to SHOWstudio, KK Obi, started a small zine in 2017 named, Boy.Brother.Friend. Since then, the zine has gone on to become a fully-fledged print publication and digital platform - celebrating and examining 'masculinity' through contemporary fashion, art and theory, with a specific focus on communities of the African Diaspora. Recently, for the fourth instalment of the publication's artist commission series, editorial director Emmanuel Balogun has collaborated with Berlin-based artist Bonono on behalf of the magazine for the latest edition of this series. The result? An intimate and captivating performance by Bonono called, Mourning For Posterity (2020.)

The performance opens with a sensitive monologue taken from the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is softly spoken at the beginning of the video.

'Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration. Without distinction of any kind such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.'

The short film represents masculinity in an intimate yet profoundly personal manner and looks to topics of self-identity in art. Luring the audience through unique, soft, twisting shapes and distortions of his own body, Bonono ambiguously separates and divides the categories between dance and performance in the film, blurring the lines entirely to create a new form that resembles both practices. The soft, gentle and emotive performance rings similar to the artist's distinct style that Bonono is known for; physical and emotional grit that is translated through captivating performances.

Directed by Zoey Lee with beautifully composed accompanying music on behalf of Max Richter, Bonono's performance is an exploration of masculinity seen through a lens that isn't often touched upon by the mainstream media. The intimate performance explores the often secretive idea of what an artist has to endure to gain from his art — constantly questioning the self and the artist's identity in the process. The reality and make-belief are both explored components in the film; where race, sexuality, gender and emotion has evolved into a multitude of fractured forms.