Excess and Formlessness: The Abang-guard and the Atmospheric

Visitors to the ARoS Museum in Denmark on a Saturday in August 2018 wouldhave encountered a perplexing sight: a pair of uniformed guards moving in unison around the works of art. Instead of standing still, they performed a routine of physical and mental exercises designed to help prepare them for a day spent on their feet. They squatted, stretched, and did neck rolls, paying no mind to the visitors or to the art. These visitors may have been unsure where to direct their attention—to the modern art on display or the workers seemingly behaving out of turn. They may have felt discomfort or excitement at the possibility that the museum’s norms were disrupted. In fact they were witnessing a performance by Abang-guard, a Filipinx art duo who aim to shed light on the invisibilized labor performed by various forms of care workers—including museum guards.

Read the rest of the essay now published in Qui Parle