TABOO - TRANSGRESSION - TRANSCENDENCE

This paper presents a case study of The Intimacy of Otherness, a transmedia, multisensory performance lecture by Jatun Risba that recounts their radical self-healing journey from Multiple Sclerosis (2012–2019). This 50-minute work examines the transformative potential of storytelling and performance in reframing the “impossible” healing from an officially incurable disease as an “I’m possible” reality.

The performance lecture unfolds through a script narrated by a multitude of AI-generated voices representing diverse genders, ages, and ethnicities. These voices recount Risba’s path to holistic health, accompanied by cinematic projections of past art interventions, performances, and video works that contextualize the story. The second act transitions to narration by the artist’s cloned voice and incorporates two musical inserts. This segment expands beyond the artist’s lived experience, addressing broader societal crises, including neoliberal malaise, the absent father effect, and the devastating consequences of patriarchy and ecocide.

Through this work, Risba embodies and unveils some of the qualities needed to overcome personal and collective challenges, inviting audiences to reflect on their own transformational capacities. The presentation advocates for the creation of uncensored art spaces and co-production structures that amplify silenced, nonconforming, intersectional voices. Such spaces are vital for the sharing and preservation of grassroots regimes of truth rooted in embodied feminist, queer, and xeno practices of artistic research. Ultimately, The Intimacy of Otherness highlights the medicinal power of art as a life-giving force for trans-individual self-empowerment and growth.