2009 Spring: COLA 3950/5950 Art for the People/Art on wheels

My final project will carry the aesthetic qualities of the “heads on barb barker” outing we did in the class earlier this year. As a trans person, I am interested in change and fluidity in people’s identities and bodies over time...

I am interested in how these transformations may be effected and shaped by the person’s environment as well as their inner struggle and strength. What stands between you and your potential to realize yourself? What does it mean to have control over your identity vs. not have any control? Why does it matter so much for the society if identities are "natural" or "performative"? Why are things such as being gay more acceptable by some if they are not a choice? Why does that even matter?

Using the stop motion patch, I am making a few videos of people's not-necessarily-controlled transformations into varies identities, Think about a bunch of heads starting at a similar state and then transforming towards various different tangents. The obvious transitions are related to gender, hence various “drag” identities. However, the renowned documentary Paris is Burning by Jennie Livingston (1990) makes it clear that drag is not only about gender. People sometimes revolt against the obstacles of the real world by engaging in drag performances that allow them to become anything and everything that they cannot possibly become in real life. One of the characters in the documentary Dorian Corey says:

“In real life, you can't get a job as an executive unless you have the educational background and the opportunity. Now the fact that you are not an executive is merely because of the social standing of life... Black people have a hard time getting anywhere. And those that do, are usually straight. In a ballroom, you can be anything you want." -- Dorian Corey

So i really leave it up to individual actors to come up with their final destination. I will be doing the outing on the first day (aka Wednesday at AI). For this I will need:

-Laptop
-Stationary projection setup (projector, magic arm, VGA cable, adapter, power)
-I may need audio (john will already have speakers so this is taken care of i think, it depends if i can find some tracks to go with the concept)

Questions:
-Are we all going at the same time or lining up?
-I will have 7 to 9 head videos, should i use two computers and projection set ups instead?

Sinan
p.s. sorry for being late, I literally just got home to sit down and write this