“It’s Like, Baby Doll”: Backstage With the Performance Artist Narcissister

SUNDAY 6:15 PM SEPTEMBER 15, 2024 RED HOOK

Last weekend at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works, the enigmatic feminist performance artist Narcissister staged her first major performance commission in 12 years. Donning her trademark plastic mask with a full doll-like getup, she joined two identically dressed performers to play in a supersized Rube Goldberg machine. In Voyage Into Infinity, Narcissister and her triplets trigger wrecking balls, spinning flames, swings, smoke signals, and more in a chaotically choreographed game of cause-and-effect that places anonymous feminine bodies in a machine where there usually are none. It’s a continuation of her two decade-long practice of exploring fetishization, race, and beauty through eerily humorous movement. As the clanging escalates, the performers strip down to their merkins, finally unveiling a live punk band before the climax, in which Narcissister mounts a giant turntable and self-administers a “fanny sparkler” beneath a shower of flowers (all before clamoring to clear up the mess and get back dressed like disciplined children). Before the second and final night of the show, we dropped in backstage for a non-smoking Smoke Break to unveil some details about the spectacle.

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MEKALA RAJAGOPAL: I don’t have a cigarette.

NARCISSISTER: And I don’t smoke.

RAJAGOPAL: Well, what are you smoking on, metaphorically?

NARCISSISTER: I mean, this homemade dinner is helping me feel more chill and grounded.

RAJAGOPAL: What are you eating?

NARCISSISTER: It’s ground turkey with tomato sauce from Trader Joe’s and red lentil pasta.

RAJAGOPAL: Okay, high protein.

NARCISSISTER: High protein, no gluten.

RAJAGOPAL: You’re expending energy for this show.

NARCISSISTER: Yeah, we’re all sweaty at the end. And I’m smoking on the high of the past few nights, because we had the dress rehearsal on Friday and then the opening night last night went really well. So I’m just really excited. I love the cast and the crew. It’s good vibes. I’m smoking on the fact that I’ll get to rest a little bit after this, because it’s been so much work.

RAJAGOPAL: How do you decompress?

NARCISSISTER: I’m just excited to return to some normalcy. Coming here has been lovely, but I’m used to my schedule being a little looser and doing some exercise, maybe a physical therapy session, just having an easier flow to my days. I’ve been waking up early, which is not my usual habit. [Laughs]

RAJAGOPAL: You’ve been prepping for around a month?

NARCISSISTER: I would say we started two months ago intermittently, but the past month has been full-time here with the builders.

RAJAGOPAL: The set is crazy. 

NARCISSISTER: Yeah, I’m super psyched about it. I’ve just been scavenging for a long time. I love the idea of finding things and trusting that whatever I find is what I need. I found things that were put out on the street and I was trolling Craigslist free to find a lot of objects. We went to Materials for the Arts a couple of times and found wonderful things there. And I have some things in my collection that I was excited to incorporate into the project. I love that we bought very few things. We had to buy some things for safety, like ropes.

RAJAGOPAL: Practical stuff.

NARCISSISTER: Yeah, carabiners and things of that nature. But we found most of the wood. I love the ecological aspect of the project. It’s a Rube Goldberg machine, so I had a list of ideas for visual cause and effect situations and we started building them out. They had to evolve as we were building because some things don’t work the way you imagine them.

RAJAGOPAL: Yeah, I was wondering about whether the objects came first or the way you used them, since you scavenged the set.

NARCISSISTER: I guess the ideas came first and then I sourced the objects that would illustrate them, but I also kind of let what I found bring new ideas, like those joint compound buckets. Somebody posted that they had 25 empty joint compound buckets on Craigslist and I don’t know who else would want them. Although, actually, I just reposted them for free on Craigslist and somebody responded right away, so I guess there is a demand for empty buckets. 

RAJAGOPAL: Often people will take anything that’s free.

NARCISSISTER: Not necessarily, but I always do my best to give items an opportunity to have another life. It’s sort of sad sometimes to post things for free and nobody wants them so they just get put in the trash.

RAJAGOPAL: Are you a collector?

NARCISSISTER: I feel like when I’ve had an object for a long time or I feel like it’s come to me, those objects have a special resonance. They feel more potent. I’m a believer in the idea that objects have an energy that is the result of that object’s lived experience.

RAJAGOPAL: What do you think about spirits?

NARCISSISTER: I believe that there’s a lot of realities to this earth plane that we just have no capacity for in any literal sense. I am open to the idea of the supernatural, for sure.

RAJAGOPAL: And a lot was left up to fate or chance with you finding the items. That idea came up in the show too, with the domino effect where one thing leads to another.

NARCISSISTER: That’s so true. I love that. It’s so much about fate in what I used and what I found but also the concept of the show.

RAJAGOPAL: Do you believe in fate?

NARCISSISTER: Oh, totally. I feel like I always find what I need. I trust that whatever happens to me is what I’m meant to learn at that time. I just trust in the process of life.

RAJAGOPAL: Me too. The whole machine reminds me of those toys they used to advertise on TV. I was trying to remember what they were called but—

NARCISSISTER: Mouse Trap.

RAJAGOPAL: Yeah! And the marble runs too, in a way.

NARCISSISTER: I never played that game, but it’s funny, a couple of other people have mentioned that.

RAJAGOPAL: Considering the game of chance, is there any improvisation in the show?

NARCISSISTER: It’s choreographed. I used to be a professional dancer, so being choreographed and rehearsed is very much part of my background. All my stuff is pretty dialed in and that’s important to me.

RAJAGOPAL: Oh my gosh, the pigeons are flying in. Has that been happening?

NARCISSISTER: Oh, yeah.

RAJAGOPAL: I love how cavernous it is at Pioneer Works.

NARCISSISTER: I know. It’s a beautiful space.

RAJAGOPAL: How would you explain the show to someone who can’t physically see it?

NARCISSISTER: It’s pretty spectacular. I think it’s a mix of spectacle and the political and the thoughtful and the artful, and there’s an element of danger to it. There’s a very punk ethos that permeates the whole show. And at the end, there’s so much forward momentum. I don’t know if you ever do performance, but you have so much adrenaline after performing.

RAJAGOPAL: I do. I’m a dancer as well.

NARCISSISTER: Yeah, the adrenaline really forces through the vein.

RAJAGOPAL: Your work is a form of political spectacle, but do you keep up with any current ones?

NARCISSISTER: Are you wink-wink-hinting at a certain debate that happened recently?

RAJAGOPAL: I didn’t watch it.

NARCISSISTER: I didn’t watch it either. I listened to it on WNYC. I don’t have a television.

RAJAGOPAL: Really?

NARCISSISTER: I don’t have a history of watching political debates, but I get excited about watching other kinds of debates. I did a residency not too long ago at McDowell, and they have an incredible library there. And James Baldwin was a fellow there, so they have this wonderful collection of James Baldwin videos I was able to watch. What an incredible public speaker, and so smart, so sharp. Passionate is not strong enough of a word. You felt how much he really cared about the things he was talking about. I got really inspired by watching those debates he did. I have other examples. I love Camille Paglia. I think her debating chops are just spot on.

RAJAGOPAL: Can’t deny that. 

NARCISSISTER: Problematic in some ways, but she’s one of my heroines, for sure.

CREW: We’re 30 minutes out.

RAJAGOPAL: Do you feel nervous?

NARCISSISTER: Last night, I was really nervous before the show started. But the good thing about having history as a dancer is that once I got out there, I knew what I was doing and the audience felt warm. Some audiences are a bit chilling. You can feel the critical eye. And I just didn’t feel that last night. And once I started going through the moves with the other performers, I sort of forgot about the audience. 

RAJAGOPAL: I know that feeling. What do you do in these last 30 minutes before showtime?

NARCISSISTER: I’ll braid my hair so that it fits under my wig, put my contact lenses on. I think I’ll go floss and brush my teeth. I want to go out and talk to people afterwards without having dried basil in my teeth. I’ll probably put some eyeliner on so I don’t look really tired. My brother-in-law was jokingly saying that it’s Pioneer working me. Worked by Pioneer. [Laughs] And obviously get in costume, check in with the performers.

RAJAGOPAL: Can I see your look?

NARCISSISTER: Sure. This is my dress. 

RAJAGOPAL: It’s not quite princess.

NARCISSISTER: It’s like, baby doll. And I have these little doll shoes with white socks. White bra and white panties.

RAJAGOPAL: Will they be revealed during the course of the performance?

NARCISSISTER: They will, and my trademark merkin will be under the panties.

RAJAGOPAL: There we go. What’s your wig today?

NARCISSISTER: It’s just these ringlets. My mask has gotten really cracked from this performance.

RAJAGOPAL: I was curious about how well you can see through the mask.

NARCISSISTER: I see well enough to do what I need to do, but I don’t see that well, and somehow that is not a deterrent for me. In a lot of instances it’s actually good because I can turn my focus internally.

CREW: Should we start at 7?

NARCISSISTER: I think 7:05 or 7:10.

CREW: We’ll refuel the wicks at seven.

NARCISSISTER: Okay. And you’ll remember to come get my fanny sparklers?

CREW: Yeah, I can come back in 10.

RAJAGOPAL: I’m kind of scared of fire, but it’s a fun adrenaline rush. 

NARCISSISTER: It’s kind of funny that you do a thing called Smoke Break if you’re afraid of fire.

RAJAGOPAL: Hopefully the fire is only the size of a lighter.

NARCISSISTER: You’re bringing a flame really close to your face.

RAJAGOPAL: It’s true. Do you play with other natural elements in the show?

NARCISSISTER: A friend pointed out that maybe part of the unanimous appeal of the show is that it includes those fundamental elements. There’s fire, there’s water, there’s air in the balloons.

RAJAGOPAL: Earth, maybe in the wood. What’s coming up in the works for you?

NARCISSISTER: So I have the distinction of being a recipient of a Playwrights Horizons New Works Lab Workshop, which is happening at the beginning of October. I am going to be working with the theater director Lucas Hnath, and I am super honored to have this opportunity. And then I have a solo art exhibition in Glasgow that is co-presented by a gallery in New York called Margot Simmel and the gallery there called Kendall Koppe.

RAJAGOPAL: What’s that going to involve?

NARCISSISTER: It’s going to mostly be my collage work and possibly a shorter performance at the opening.

RAJAGOPAL: That’s exciting.

NARCISSISTER: Are you going to stay and see the show?

RAJAGOPAL: Yes, of course. I’ll see you out there.