School of the Art Insititute of Chicago emerge Journal 20-21 School of the Art Insititute of Chicago emerge Journal 20-21 School of the Art Insititute of Chicago emerge Journal 20-21 School of the Art Insititute of Chicago emerge Journal 20-21
By Ruby Dudasik
The Dream Issue of emerge is centered on the radical re-envisioning of our thinking, our ways of being, how we relate to one another and the world. “Queer Futures” presents a selection of work that reflects this commitment. The artists featured here engage with and challenge the queer experience, questioning what it means and looks like to live within and alongside existing frameworks of queerness.
Foundational to The Dream Issue as well is the recognition of value in non-textual work—it acknowledges that the visual, performed, spoken, heard, and experiential is just as valuable as textual work. It understands that words alone cannot always fully embody the fullness of meaning. With this in mind, “Queer Futures” as a theme is not exclusive. Its title alone is unable to contain the explosive, spiraling, expansive realities and possibilities presented here in their entirety. Queerness is a constant creation and recreation, an ongoing negotiation of ourselves and how we move throughout, relate to, exist in, and navigate the world. What connects these works is not the identity or label of “queerness”—which in itself is far too small—but instead a collective and radical re-imagining of what it could be. Through these creations, we see queer futures, pasts, and presents as they are ideally imagined to be.
The works presented as part of “Queer Futures” span various different types of media, including photo, poetry, sculpture, and film; they reveal private moments of intimacy and bridge connections across folklore, queer love, pop culture. These works explore the multitudes of being queer, and they embody the boundless creation possible when we allow ourselves to dream without limits. In their variety, they exemplify the impossibility of defining a singular experience of queerness.
These works invite you to join us in dreaming of a queer future.
The Dream Issue of emerge is centered on the radical re-envisioning of our thinking, our ways of being, how we relate to one another and the world. “Queer Futures” presents a selection of work that reflects this commitment. The artists featured here engage with and challenge the queer experience, questioning what it means and looks like to live within and alongside existing frameworks of queerness.
Foundational to The Dream Issue as well is the recognition of value in non-textual work—it acknowledges that the visual, performed, spoken, heard, and experiential is just as valuable as textual work. It understands that words alone cannot always fully embody the fullness of meaning. With this in mind, “Queer Futures” as a theme is not exclusive. Its title alone is unable to contain the explosive, spiraling, expansive realities and possibilities presented here in their entirety. Queerness is a constant creation and recreation, an ongoing negotiation of ourselves and how we move throughout, relate to, exist in, and navigate the world. What connects these works is not the identity or label of “queerness”—which in itself is far too small—but instead a collective and radical re-imagining of what it could be. Through these creations, we see queer futures, pasts, and presents as they are ideally imagined to be.
The works presented as part of “Queer Futures” span various different types of media, including photo, poetry, sculpture, and film; they reveal private moments of intimacy and bridge connections across folklore, queer love, pop culture. These works explore the multitudes of being queer, and they embody the boundless creation possible when we allow ourselves to dream without limits. In their variety, they exemplify the impossibility of defining a singular experience of queerness.
These works invite you to join us in dreaming of a queer future.
Glory Hole is a physical, full scale manifestation of a trans* fantasy made into reality. I use the clay and glaze to build a potential for my trans* body beyond my perceived reality—as well as perceived realities of my body learned through cisgender culture. This vessel, Glory Hole, has the potential to amplify the viewer's voice or breath through each individual hole. These are not only sound holes, but penetrable holes in the bathroom wall.
I offer this vessel as a human-size pot that the viewer can use as a glory hole as intended, or to yell, or sing or breathe into, to touch, to move around, to exist with, to look at, to look through, and to extend themselves through me. Glory Hole is an attempt to take up space in a way that helps others take up space in the viewing. Glory Hole exacerbates the common cisgender approach to the glory hole, one of fantasy in the unknown and erasure of bodies in space. I begin to unravel what is so appealing in the unknown through giving the blank wall and the crude hole—the glory hole—space to express itself; space to express what we have put into it, attached mentally to it, written on its surface.
Naming myself proudly trans*, with my phone number on Glory Hole's wall, and identifying myself with words like "for fun time trans*" names the identity of the fantasized and fetishized. I want to acknowledge and examine the fetish of my body, my identity as a trans* person. I want to extend myself beyond the sexually defined explanations of my body. By being a Glory Hole that is trans*-inclusive, made by my hand, for myself as much as it is for others, I hope its function and use extend the binary thinking surrounding a figure like a glory hole in the wall.
"Glory Hole"
Azul Nogueron /
I explore my trans identity by being honest. I depict my story onto relics of my past and paint a
story of who I am. I paint portraits of myself and embroider relics of my past into my body, to
demonstrate that although there have been a few surface changes that I am still the same
person that people have gotten to know the past few years. My “dirty laundry” will be installed as
such, drying for the world to see but my dirty laundry will be not be without my words, my
experiences, my emotions and my voice.
I am They but now you will hear me as Him, because my voice is my power, and only I can
judge myself as worthy.
"Chichona"
"Gay Cowboy"
"Gordis"
Sam Kyung Lee /
Part I
On seeking queer diaspora—how we exchange one form of unknowing for another:
The clouds had fallen low that evening. They fell in half-greys, touching the tops of trees, as if they had been pulled out in wisps from within the trees themselves, their boughs swept against the darkening frames of the sky. We watched the trees, their green shadows pouring into the same shapes, the same darkening pools, seeping into each other until something tore beneath, their depths shrouded by their movement, their blackish-greens that filled and filled, without end.
At first the trees spilled in masses along the arcs of the road, their smells close enough to breathe. We felt near, enveloped in the arms of something strange and immense, deeper than we could imagine, and our unknowing gave us ease.
But as we drove on, the trees beginning to recede, we felt ourselves returning to our narrower channels, the bodies returning to definite lines, trunks, leaves, as spaces between embossed against the night, and I felt my chest slowly cave, constrict at this re-embodied air, the lands around us fallen bare before us. The trees now sparsely populated the fields, and the sky - having replaced the clouds - descended with all its immensity toward us, a deluge upon our eyes like a falling body. I felt suddenly surrounded by all that was no longer there, the arborescent shadows and blurs, once more untethered and exposed...
Yet at the fell of the sky I thought of you and remembered. With a grin on my cheeks I did not shut my eyes—I opened my lips and swallowed the endless supply—
I'd love to imagine what those buff, rugged Bigfoot hunters would do when they see their hairy, magnificent
Bigfoot. Instead of pulling the triggers on their guns, they'd blow Bigfoot a little kissy. I think about Bigfoot hunting
quite a lot. It is unquestionably a queer act. Scruffy bearded men, working together as an orgy, admiring each
other’s gadgets and evidence. They hide together in the woods, sniffing Bigfoot's hair, and lusting for the bigger,
better Bigfoot footprints.
Because of our focus on empiricism in Western epistemology, the only way to prove Bigfoot’s existence is to
produce a corpse. Until then, Bigfoot remains in cryptozoology and a frowned-upon topic of discussion.
Like
queer love in this heteronormative society, queer people have experienced being asked “Where is your
boyfriend?” or “Where is your girlfriend?”, experiencing unrequited love from straight crushes, and the worst—falling in love with someone who also loves you but you're both equally confused causing you to run away. There
are no traces of your lovers. Where is no photographic evidence of you two together. Just a few pixelated images
of your existence together. As real as this love is for you, people only see it as a myth.
Using Bigfoot videos and Bigfoot pop culture as iconography for queer love, I want to reimagine heteronormative
pop love songs as allegories of Bigfoot hunting. Love is always there although it might only materialize in a few
blurry photographs. I will always love in a mythological way.
Credits:
We are undercover (Part-Time Lover, Stevie Wonder)
Passion on the run
Strangers by day
Lovers by night
Don' t have a picture of you (Come Back, The Vagary)
The smell of your hair all I know
What a shame I didn't catch your name
I never heard a single word about you (This Is It, Michael
Jackson)
Falling in love wasn't in my plan
And I know yes for sure, it is real
Wise men say only fools rush in (Can't help falling in love, Elvis Presley)
But I can't help falling in love with you
Then I saw their face (I'm a Believer, The Monkees)
Now I am a believer
I am in love
I hear footsteps as I watch you go (Foot steps, The Motels)
In search of that someone
I lie awake, waiting, wanting
Praying I hear your footsteps call me
My loneliness is killing me (...Baby One More Time, Britney Spears)
I must confess I still believe
I shouldn't have let you go
And now you're out of sight
You were always on my mind (You Were Always On My Mind, Gwen McCrae)
(Unaccompanied Cello Suite No . 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 I. Prelude, Yoyo Ma)
"I Love My Bigfoot"
Glory Hole is a large ceramic pot standing about five feet tall and two feet wide at the base, tapering into a bottle neck rim. Black writing reads "7735058666 (trans*)" on the top half of the pot, and multicolored glaze drips down the majority of the nuanced vessel. There are repeated holes in the form, some that appear to be punched into the pot's walls, while others extrude themselves out from the walls, like ears; these holes extend to the viewer to amplify themselves vocally. Goopy glaze pools and foams around these openings, the glaze dripping down from each "sound hole" lusciously towards the wide base of the pot.
A honey colored glaze covers the majority of the vessel in a glossy golden finish, contrasting with the drippy, thick matte glaze coming from the holes. Scars are incised into the clay walls vigorously and expressively, cutting deep into the surface of the clay. Orange glaze stands out against the black writing on the center of the pot, dripping downwards and meeting the darker, matte brown goop in one of the larger sound holes. Finger marks embrace the pot all over its surface, textured and varied through the multitude of glazes piling on top of each other in contrast to the parts nearer to the rim of the pot that show the raw, dark red clay body at the top, and below it the lighter, gray clay briefly exposed towards the bottom of the pot.
Chichona is the first piece amongst the installation of self portraits that explore the unbound.
Chichona is a large 60 x 72 painting on a cotton bed sheet, with a blessed rosary at the neck
of the upper body self portrait. The portrait features a gold leaf halo and colorful tons in the
face and neck, with embroidered breasts.
Gay cowboy is another full body portrait of the artist with a cowboy hat, except this piece
lacks color. The non gesso areas of the painting are the crotch and the breasts of the artist.
The remainder of the body is gessoed white.
Gordis is a sarape that features cut pieces of fabric, painted of the artist laying against a
pillow and has a tree coming from the belly button. In the piece as well is a embroidery hoop
with a piece of fabric in it, to the right of the artist and the tree.
Diptych. Image 1: Corean person wearing facemask stands in woods behind long, diagonal tree trunk. Trunk conceals part of their expression, yet their gaze is direct and unwavering. Woody scene composed of olive greens, muted browns, canary yellows. Their feet are concealed by tall grass; one small camera hangs just above their jeans; and on their wrist are two jade bead bracelets. Image 2: Corean woman stands looking off and away from us, third of her face / most of her body covered by large tree trunk. This snowy winter scene has pink tones. Wearing cream coat and striped scarf, she stands flat against her surroundings, her gaze distant and removed. Someone else’s shadow (perhaps photographer’s) overlays bottom tree trunk.
Landscape photo: Two large slabs of concrete or otherwise man-made rock (grey and weathered) sit in unknown body of tremoring water. Between these two slabs form a triangular shaped opening. One small candle floats on water inside this crevice. In front of slabs lies another candle, this one almost capsized but still aflame.
Diptych. Image 1: Two Corean persons, one embracing another, against floral wallpaper. Expression of person wearing orange hoodie is concealed, but the other is shown wearing dark red lipstick and smiling, their expression mid-laugh, gently blurred by motion. They both have one hand on shutter release cable’s bulb. Image 2: Two Corean persons with short, curly hair are grinning as they fool around in what looks like public transport. One person, wearing tinted aviator glasses, leans forward from their seat and holds the other’s face by their chin. It is dark and raining outside; bus windows wet, glimmering.
Field of tall, soft grass; many gradations of yellows, browns, and brownish-oranges. In its center lies one strip of particularly illuminated grass, slightly brighter than the rest. Much is in focus, details sharp - as if you can touch it.
Diptych. Image 1: Corean woman wearing green puffy coat and jeans lies sprawled out in bed of fresh, fluffy snow. They seem to be giggling, their hand raised to their mouth. It is nighttime, as their photographer used flash to illuminate them. Image 2: Corean person lies full-body across their beige couch. Their chin is raised, half their face dipping into cream-orange window light as they laugh. They wear round glasses, Led-Zeppelin t-shirt and jeans. One hand tremors on top of couch back, other hand resting on couch besides their body, relaxed. Tattooed in black ink on their forearm are two women in hanbok.
Cropped sepia toned archival of Corean family. Many adults and children stand or sit in formal positions in front of traditional Corean housing and screen doors. Sitting by them are ceremonial foods -- a banquet of sorts -- on straw, wood, or otherwise weaved mats. Two men hold musical instruments, seated in front. Next to them is another person, yet his face has been ripped out, torn so cleanly that you can see tan material mounted beneath this photograph.
Square photo: Cream-yellow window-blind strips of light against walls. Two people sit against this light, their faces flat and completely obscured by shadow. One wears wrinkled white shirt; another wears glasses. Glints of one orange snack bag sits between them.
Diptych. Image 1: Person’s hands rest on top of their knee. They are wearing blue pants and no socks. Their shadow is parallel to them, creating two forms that mimic each other, two triangular shapes. They sit against smooth, beige tiles. Image 2: Two people sit beside each other with arms entangled, their faces buried in each other’s shoulders. One sits with back to us, one with face forward. Behind them is delicately marbled beige wallpaper. One has flowers tattooed on their arm. Person with face illuminated looks in an indeterminable location, their gaze heavy and unreadable.
Diptych. Image 1: Two faces rest by each other. One rests with eyes closed, their facial features soft and relaxed. They wear cheongsam with gold and pink patterns. Another rests with their chin on this cheongsam, their expression hidden from us. They wear red and black floral, one tiny purple earring dangling from their ear. Image 2: Field of tall grass and flowers, foregrounded grass flattened and amess, as if someone had been there and sat amidst them, packing earth down to form some sort of bed. Grass is of muted pinks, mint and electric greens. One tiny flower sits amidst bent grass.
Diptych. Image 1: Person wearing blue long sleeve shirt is concealed by smooth wall. Only their shoulder and bent arm are revealed. Behind them, a blue, silver, and oxidized-black gradient. Image 2: Bright open doorway (full of diagonal, lightly tinted windows behind it) sits inside turbulent skies full of grey clouds. Beneath this doorway streams blue light in trapezoid shape, giving sky this room-like quality.
