Nina Arsenault presents 40 Days and 40 Nights: Working Towards a Spiritual Experience
Published on Wednesday August 15, 2012
By Richard Ouzounian Theatre Critic
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/onstage/article/1242213--nina-arsenault-presents-40-days-and-40-nights-working-towards-a-spiritual-experience (http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/onstage/article/1242213--nina-arsenault-presents-40-days-and-40-nights-working-towards-a-spiritual-experience)
The flagellation began at 1:12 a.m.
It's important to pinpoint the moment precisely, because it was then that Nina Arsenault's 40 Days and 40 Nights: Working Towards a Spiritual Experience made the leap from daring to incredible, and marked it as not just one of the most astonishing things you'll see at SummerWorks but anywhere in Toronto this year.
The transsexual performance artist, best known for The SiliconeDiaries, walks in sweeping circles inside the pop-up store at 1095 Queen St. W. which has become her kingdom until Aug. 19
[...]
And then there's Nina. She drags an exercise bicycle in front of a giant full-length mirror, drops her gown to the floor, puts on a wig made of equal parts black hair and webbing, turning her into a true sister of Manuel Puig's Spider Woman, before, stark naked, she climbs onto the bike and starts pedaling as if the hound of hell was pursuing her.
Despite the nudity, there is nothing erotic about this performance.