She had been set to bring the show to Eveleigh Works,a functioning blacksmith’s forge where artisans wield fire by day,surrounded by “big pussy prints” of her vulva in the large canopy space.
Her face daubed in psychedelic pink and green as the “exoskeleton or carapace” of Betty,Gibson erotically pleasures herself on stage inEnemies – not for titillationper se but as a way of reclaiming her autonomy in the wake of physical assaults by men.
Enemies is her “thank you” show to her mother,who is today a visual artist;her father,Ian,a GP in Sydney;and her brother,Timothy,an “amazing,brave inventor” in electrical engineering and science,who created the Betty Grumble logo.
“When I was very young I was watching my mother transform herself,and to also share her health with the people around her.
“The ways in which my family handled that grief,the way my mother channelled it into her body,I’ve definitely been very inspired by.”
Her brother has also informed Gibson’s ethos of gratitude to the body,and to consider bodies coming together on the dance floor and in a performance space – or even online – as a blessing.
Emma Maye Gibson’s daily online aerobics shows during lockdown were partly a spiritual quest.Credit:Chelsea Wheatley.
Gibson created Grumble through Sydney’s nurturing underground scene of queer parties such as Monsta Gras,Club Kooky and Loose Ends,where the dance floors,she says,are a “democratic” and “healing” space.
She borrowed from clowning,drag and strip-tease traditions to make Betty. “I wanted to say,‘This is my body and I’m going into it with full love-energy,but if you dare disrespect my body,I will retaliate’,” she recalls.
“My artform became that retaliation,and my way of processing some of the realities of being in the world,the injustice,complexities … as a woman. I was a person who had a lot of anger,and art really gave me a way to process it,as did laughter and spectacle and satire,really.”
One of the stories she tells on stage inEnemies is of a violent ex-partner she reported to police,and the stress of subsequently being cross-examined for three hours.
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“The patriarchal violence we all deal with,the systems in place tell us there’s only one way of being,” she muses. “The systems don’t educate us about being in love with our bodies and respecting our bodies,and prolificate really unhealthy power relations between different bodies.”
Gibson’s ethos has occasionally been misunderstood. “I was called a ‘woman scorned out for revenge’,and these labels or colours we get painted with dehumanise and gaslight us,” she says.
“There needs to be another way we’re speaking about[assaults] because that doesn’t benefit my ex-partner … because there’s a reason why their behaviour happened. There’s something deep in them that needs to be healed.”
With lockdown ending this weekend,online Grumble Boogie is coming to an end,although the archive can still be accessed via Instagram (@bettygrumble) or Twitch (@grumblewish).
Gibson still hopes to bringEnemies to Eveleigh Works,to create a “third space together,audience and performers”,and will announce in-person Grumble Boogies soon.
Betty Grumble will appear in Day for Night online for Liveworks,October 23.
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