Andrea Cosentino's 'Not Here Not Now' Deconstructs Performance Art

Andrea Cosentino's performance 'Not Here Not Now' at Fucina Culturale Machiavelli in Verona critiques the excesses of performance art, particularly targeting Marina Abramović's presentialist exuberance. Cosentino, an actor and author associated with Angelica, employs subtraction and evasion rather than parody. The work juxtaposes theatrical truth and reality, questioning whether a performer's blood or an actor's ketchup is more authentic. Cosentino uses comedic devices—a fake nose, a white robe, and exaggerated delivery of the word 'performance'—to mock Abramović, echoing similar satire in Paolo Sorrentino's 'La Grande Bellezza' and Virginia Raffaele's impersonations. The performance is framed as a talk show and amateur videos, with references to Vito Acconci's 'Open Book' via an iPhone used as a mouth substitute. Cosentino's 'convulsion by accumulation' renders the theatrical experience nauseating, reducing representation to its zero degree through excess of presence, objects, costumes, and makeup, and deficit of narrative. The piece premiered at Fucina Culturale Machiavelli, Verona, in 2017.