RED TIDE
Tamara Wyndham
July 22, 1989
Kate Millett Art Colony, Poughkeepsie, New York
The stage set was entirely white: white walls, a white sheet of paper
on the wall, a small table with a white tablecloth. On the table was a white
teapot and a white carton of white eggs, a metal egg beater and a clear
glass bowl. I was dressed in a white T shirt and white drawstring pants.
I had memorized the following text, which is a combination of a childhood
memory and a dream. As I spoke it, I made a charcoal drawing on the paper
of what I was speaking about, starting with the ocean, then the clouds,
the rain, the elephant, the golden disks and the hibiscus.
I performed this work on the heavy day of my period. I wore no underwear
and no tampon nor napkin, so that I bled onto my pants as I performed.
When I finished speaking the text, I went outside and quickly took
off my clothes, then re-entered naked, with my internal organs painted on
the front of my torso. Without speaking, I took an egg from the carton and
broke it into the bowl. Inside the eggshell was not egg, but my own menstrual
blood. From the teapot I poured red hibiscus tea into the bowl with the
blood. I whisked it together, and then drank it.
TEXT:
On the coast of California where I grew up, one day when I was a girl,
the ocean turned red. It was a dark brownish red, the color of old blood.
A foul fish smell filled the air, for thousands of dead fish had washed
ashore the beaches.
A shift in the climate had caused the temperature of the ocean to warm.
In this warm water, billions of phytoplankton, tiny organisms halfway between
plant and animal, reproduce rapidly. They crowd toward the surface to receive
sunlight, and the density of their great numbers discolors the water. My
mother told me that they killed the fish by using up all of the oxygen in
the water; but actually they produce one of the most toxic poisons known.
My mother was curious and took me to the beach to look at the dead fish
and the red water. I was fascinated. But she would not let me play in the
water nor touch the fish.
The warm ocean water evaporates, and condenses high in the air to form
cumulus clouds. The cumulus build up rapidly into tall towers called castelllanus.
The clouds become saturated, and a heavy rain falls and clears the air of
the dead fish smell.
The tide recedes, and in the distance, a gigantic elephant rises from
the ocean. She is huge and magnificent, and is an omen of great changes
in the world, and of danger. She moves slowly through the water toward the
shore and into the town,lifting her great feet gently as she walks down
the street past the house where I lived. She walks calmly and magnificently,
causing no harm. The people keep at a distance and watch cautiously.
Now, two great golden disks, of thirty feet diameter, representing the
planets Jupiter and Saturn, roll down the street. One from West to East,
the other from East to West. They cross paths right in front of where I
am standing, in front of my house. This signifies that the sea will flood
the land.
At this point, it is revealed to me that a certain flower, a red hibiscus
flower, will be of great help and importance in the coming years. This flower
is known in many parts of the world, and a sharp red tea is made from its
petals.
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