Acacia chats with Midsumma about a personally influential piece that inspired their work. Meet Acacia Christensen and the Queer Pop Icon Miss Piggy
Fat? Femme? … a pig? Is there any more of a queer icon than Miss Piggy? She’s definitely one of my biggest icons in drag as a performer who is fat, femme and obsessed with glamour. Miss Piggy always has this air about her where she is the most important one in the room but also doesn’t have any self doubts - especially about her weight, and everything she delivers has a comedic element to it while being delivered as knowledge that she is merely bestowing on everyone else.
I’m personally extremely obsessed with pop culture and the trashier and more bizarre - the better. One of my favourite pieces is Miss Piggy’s “Snackcercise” from the 1982 TV special “The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show”. As a drag artist, I try to channel to persona of a space alien who has crash-landed, learned all about society from watching heaps of bad television and movies, and subsequently been asked to host their own variety special where they are featured in all the segments. Her entire TV special is one of my biggest drag aspirations to achieve something of that level but the icing on the cake is this 2-minute “workout” segment. It also happens to be one of the first songs I ever performed to as a queer artist complete with stripping and sitting in a cake.
Snackcercise is the perfect level of tongue-in-cheek campiness that encompasses everything fabulous and hilarious about her.
Tacky ‘80s pastel workout gear? Check.
Fabulous hair? Check.
Inconvenient accessories that aren’t appropriate for a workout? Check.
A bunch of fit backup dancers who do all the working out for her that she isn’t afraid to tell off if they upstage her? Check.
Off-key singing? Check.
And the final ingredient in the mix - a list of workout moves that are just explaining to you how to eat your favourite foods.
So, be sure to wear a comfortable snack suit while you’re brainstorming for your next piece of art. I know I do.
