Martin O’Brien: Fading Out of Dead Air

What is access? How does access include consent? What does it mean for a disabled artist to produce art that is not accessible? These are the questions that I asked myself while attending Martin O’Brien’s performance artwork “Fading Out of Dead Air” held at the International Museum of Surgical Science on November 7, 2024.

This show consisted of a 3-hour performance by O’Brien on the second floor of the

museum in the “Hall of Immortals.” The room was dimly lit and attendees either had to sit on

the marble floor or stand. O’Brien began the performance by arranging stones in a rectangle

that fit the outline of this body. He did this first with his hands, and then by pushing a small

glass cup with his forehead to arrange the stones. After the rectangle was finished, O’Brien

unbuttoned his shirt and removed his pants, revealing a small square of fabric that covered his

front side but not his back. O’Brien retrieved a casket that had been sitting in a corner of the

room. Attendees had to get up and move out of the way. He climbed into the casket and then

moved the casket as seen in the image above by crawling on the ground with the casket

balanced on his back. Next, O’Brien used the casket and the stones to make three stone outlines

of the casket. Finally, the last action that O’Brien completed before I had to leave was urinating

in two metal bowls, fully exposed to viewers, before setting the bowls on the floor.

So, what is access? How does access relate to O’Brien’s performance? The CDC defines

accessibility as “when the needs of people with disabilities are specifically considered, and

products, services, and facilities are built or modified so that they can be used by people of all

abilities.” While the performance work of O’Brien was interesting, his show could have been

more accessible. Attendees had two options to view the show: sit on the hard marble ground or

stand. Neither of these options is comfortable or sustainable for long periods of time,

especially for disabled individuals such as those with chronic pain or limited mobility. There

were no sign language interpreters to describe the show's different sounds, which

were integral to the experience. There was no audio description of O’Brien’s actions, so blind,

visually impaired, or even individuals who didn’t have a good view could not understand the

movements that O’Brien was doing. There were not any access doulas present at the

show. Access doulas work with disabled people during an event to ensure their access needs are

being met, and this could have been implemented at the show to make the experience more accessible. The multiple access absences meant that disabled audience members could not attend or stay for very long.

How does access include consent? This point of access does not apply only to the disabled community; it applies to every audience member. The audience was not given the opportunity to consent to nudity. Neither O’Brien nor the venue provided content warnings either in the show description or upon arrival at the venue. O’Brien exposed himself to the audience multiple times in different ways and there were no warnings that this was going to occur. Nudity in a show needs to be done with care. This lack of consent contributed to the show’s insufficient access in another significant way.

For me, O’Brien’s performance was fundamentally inaccessible. I was only able to stay

for half of the show because sitting on the hard marble floor began to worsen my chronic pain

significantly. Additionally, my inability to consent to O’Brien’s nudity left me feeling violated, confused, and disappointed. Lastly, as an autistic literal thinker, I had no idea what

the meaning of O’Brien’s actions were. I still do not understand how his actions connect to the

broad themes of his work, which include “what it means to be born with a life-shortening

disease, and the philosophical implications of living longer than expected.” I was excited to see

the show because I am also living with a life-shortening disease. I was looking forward to

O’Brien’s performance and seeing how he relates to his disease and how he has been able to

create art from it. The event’s lack of accessibility left me in pain and uncomfortable.

So, what does it mean for a disabled artist to produce work that is not accessible? This

implies that O’Brien’s intended audience is a non-disabled one which is at odds with other disabled artists who are choosing to create their work for disabled audiences. In Kinetic Light’s dance performances, access is considered from the very beginning. It is built into the show's aesthetic so that access becomes part of the art itself. “Fading Out of Dead Air” has not built access into the show. Because the event was co-hosted by Science (IMSS) and School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)’s wellness center, I anticipated more attention to accessibility, such as the minimum of setting out a few chairs, having an ASL interpreter, or including a content warning as attendees entered the building.

O’Brien’s inaccessibility suggests that both his intended audience was non-disabled and that he did not consider the needs of the disability community.

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Abby Caughman (she/her) is a master’s student in Disability and Human Development at the

University of Illinois Chicago. She is proudly autistic and multiply disabled. Abby received her BA

in Psychology and Spanish from the University of South Carolina in 2021. Before graduate

school, Abby worked as a Case Manager in South Carolina serving individuals with Intellectual

and Developmental disabilities who had Medicaid waivers. Abby’s current work focuses on the

nationwide disparities of these Medicaid Intellectual and Developmental Disability waivers.

Post graduate school, Abby hopes to continue her work in exploring how to improve waiver

equitability across states. In her free time, Abby enjoys snuggling with her cat Monty, reading

both fiction and nonfiction books, and exploring Chicago.