Couple in a Cage is a performance piece written and performed by Fusco and Gomez-Pena during their tour for the exhibition of The Year of the White Bear and Two Undiscovered Amerindians Visit the West. For the exhibit, the two performers appear in a cage dressed in sunglasses, luchador masks and boots, wigs, grass skirts, a leopard bikini top for Fusco, and Converse shoes and adorned with jewelry and brilliantly painted faces. Everything about the exhibit is designed to be absurd. Fusco and Gomez-Pena follow a "script" but one dictating their actions rather than words. They are silent except for Gomez-Pena who occasionally delivers gibberish speeches for donations.
The cage is well-outfitted and bizarre. It's decorated with candles, Polaroid pictures and a camera, bed pans, Native American artifact replicas, spray paint, a TV, laptops, and a hammock. Each of these objects are used at various points by the performers. In fact the Polaroid camera is free for audience members to use to commemorate their visit with the actors. Only leaving the cage on leashes with an escort, the performers remain in the cage for the duration of the exhibitions in each city. This means that they relieve themselves in the bed pans and are fed there as well.
In front of the cage, Fusco and Gomez-Pena place a fake encyclopedia open to the entry of Amerindians. The book explains that the performers belong to a native tribe from the (fake) island of Guatinau in the Gulf of Mexico. There's a large map cutout depicting the alleged location of the island. The text verifies that the habitat of the performers is in fact accurate. In addition to the book, plaques are hung all around the exhibit which explain the long and sordid history of indigenous people's being placed on display for amusement dating back 500 years.
During their performances, Fusco and Gomez-Pena amuse themselves with the various contents of their cage. They watch TV and surf the web, but they also mix in some Native American activities like sewing dolls or engaging with the various ritual objects in the cage. As stated before, they do not speak. Staff members feed them by hand throughout the day, usually fruit.
