"The woman and the drain"

body, death, madness, vomit, excretions and deliriums

Abstract

The article analyzes the medium-length film “A Mulher e o Ralo”, produced during the Covid-19 pandemic, addressing themes such as death, madness and the degradation of affections. The work reflects on the emotional impact of the pandemic period, using a visceral aesthetic to portray the destruction of bodies and the fragmentation of subjectivities. Exploring the collapse between life and art, the film mixes video and photo-performance, creating a choreographic and poetic narrative about the female psyche and its relationship with the body in crisis. The analysis methodology is based on the performance theories of Stella Fisher and Eleonora Fabião, André Lepecki's concept of phantasmagoria, Antonin Artaud's aesthetics of cruelty and Michel Foucault's historical-cultural understanding of madness. The article examines how these theoretical references help to understand the process of deconstruction and reconstruction of bodies and affections throughout the film's four scenes. Each scene, with its independent aesthetic, reflects a unique poetic and visual invention, linked to the larger narrative of fragmentation, excretion and madness. The analysis also focuses on the artistic experimentation that emerged from the need to adapt scenic practices to audiovisual, breaking boundaries between physical and virtual presence.