Gray Wielebinski, Manuka Honey, and agustine zegers,
We Got Spirit, 2025
Soundtrack
Photography by Anne Tetzlaff, courtesy of Somerset House Studios
We Got Spirit was a performance commissioned by Somerset House Studios and Dean’s Bottom in 2025, which interrogated how cheerleading, a symbol of hyper-femininity and American patriotic ritual, might be made subcultural. Evoking the haunting Texas landscape from Wielebinski and Manuka Honey’s childhoods, the work reflects on the twilight of the American empire, examining suburban ritual, petroculture, gendered performance, and the violent infrastructures underlying American life. The artists conceived two scents, composed by zegers, that converged in the central performance space, amidst pulsing red lights reminiscent of oil rigs across Texas.
Performed by Slug and Martina Derosa.
Banner fabrication by Aannika Thiems. Costumes by HRH.
Part of AGM 2025, curated and produced by Marina Doritis, Laurent John, and Huw Thomas.
AGM programme here
Dean’s Bottom, in collaboration with the artists, has produced a book, artist edition, and incense paper sculpture that expand from this work.