aspiring post-bitter

BITTER:

POST-BITTER:

how it's gonna be

• wearable Stefan Skyneedle suit
• I Love What I Hate show with Kt Spit
• Harness making workshops umm, February?
• Participation Strategy research!
• Hot dog lap dance service
• My Own Private Idaho dreamscape recreation
• There's a stocking lensed film clip star in every Sporties regular

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Hidden Mansfield Tapes Installation

Exhibited at CabaretQ, 2009.

really, this was mostly about camp.

Collage and acrylic paint. 2.2 x 3m. Commissioned by Brisbane Festival forDrawn Togetherexhibition at West End Live

I was approached by Brisbane Festival to create Changing Landscapes for their Drawn Together project to be exhibited at West End… LIVE. In this project, 4 artists were given a digital story of a long term West End resident to respond to. In these interviews, the residents shared anecdotal stories of the changing cultural, economic and physical landscape of West End and the impact this had on their lives.

The project aimed to demonstrate that like physical elements such as architecture and geology, stories and culture inform a sense of place. The project aimed to highlight that West End’s cultural landscape is undergoing radical changes as a result of physical redevelopment. The stories of indigenous elder Aunty Mulinjarli, queer cultural instigator Shane Garvey and redevelopment resister Janet Richards were included.

The artists were given one hour to work with a 2.2m x 3m canvas in public view during the festival, during which the public were given access to headphones so they could listen to the digital story while watching the artist’s response unfold.

I was briefed on the story of Janet Richards to respond to, who is most well known for resisting the acquisition of her family home for the redevelopment of the West End Coles complex and neighbouring apartment block. Originally I wanted to explore the role that local and state government cultural renewal initiatives play in suburban gentrification, such as the redevelopment of the Cultural Centre and Brisbane City Council’s current funding programs for ‘happenings’.

I researched artist responses to arts gentrification, such as There Goes The Neighbourhood and The London Particular. I started planning a visual case study of international examples of cultural renewal initiatives that had neglected issues of social exclusion and the responses of local artists in addressing these problems.

However when I received the digital story, Janet Richards talked very little about her legal battle with the development company over acquiring her home. Instead, she talked about changes in the architectural landscape from the mid 1800s until now over the stretch of land between West End’s Absoe building and King George Square.

I discarded this preparation and switched to collage plans of a camp take on the recent refurbishment of the Stefan Skyneedle, kitsch Tourism Queensland imagery, while using an image of Sophie Lee’s character, Tracy, from The Castle to reference Janet Richard’s legal battle.

Pedal to the Metal

For Abbie x

Does it get any better than this?

Bronski Beat, Eartha Kitt, Divine & John Waters in one!

EMBRACE YR INNER LIBRARIAN!

ZINE LIBRARY NEW CO-ORDINATOR ROLE

SEEKING EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

I am looking to hand over my role as the Copy and Destroy Zine Library’s coordinator to someone with an investment in zine culture. This is a really fun project! It’s a great opportunity to meet other zine makers, see their work and learn some project and event management skills. I will be available for support during the handover.

This is an unpaid position unless you are successful with a funding application where a wage is budgeted. The new coordinator is encouraged to seek out and stock zines that they think are artistically, culturally and politically interesting to them individually and the people that access the library.

EMAIL ME ASAP FOR A FULL EOI DESCRIPTION

warren dot gracie at hotmail dot com

EOIs due Fri Nov 6.

Young people are especially encouraged to apply.

PLEASE CIRCULATE!

I am

If I Wasn't a Transsexual

Hear me roar

so good on so many levels.

an encounter with power

I finally got this book in my life! I found it in the back corner of a 2nd hand book store, I have been on the hunt for the longest time. HAPPINESS.

It focusses on lesbian art in the late 80s - early 90s in Australia. INSPIRATION.

Lesbian Art: an encounter with power, by Elizabeth Ashburn. 1996.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a lesbian in a trans-boy's body.

aspiring post-bitter motherfucking MONSTER

for jackson,
and anyone else who's ever had their fairytales sent to the slaughter.

HARNESSED

With a little funding help, I'm starting the HARNESSED project. I will be running workshops from August, talking about sexuality, fantasy, safer spaces... and making chest harnesses! out of whatever materials you dream up that reflect your sexuality! Down with leather protocols! (unless, of course that is your thang).

I can supply materials. All I ask of you is that you donate your harness for the duration of the project so they can all be exhibited at the QArts Exhibition later this year. Then it is all yours for happy flagging.

I got excited and made mine already. Considering my infatuation with all things CAMP, I went down the sequined track:

Workshop details soon to be announced. If you are private about these things, I can arrange 1-on-1 workshops. Contributions can be anonymous. Contact me if you are interested: warren dot gracie at hotmail dot com

HO student show

This is the first round of images, shown at my end of semester student show. The pool of contributions is growing and I'm looking into breaking them up into different series. Read a viewer's reflection at Born Whore. 

 

Selina, Kitt and Queenie.

I will be doing shows! So far, on the potential horizon is the QArts exhibition later this year (Bris), at Debby Doesn't Do It For Free and Mardi Gras (Sydney) next year. Also I'm applying for a show at the Sex Worker Art Festival (San Francisco) & the Queer Art Festival (San Francisco) next year. 

aaaahahahaha

There is a storm being caused by gay marriage and we are all in serious trouble. This is a parody of NOM's Anti-Gay Marriage PSA. 

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

it WILL be choreographed. and it'll be good.

Watch the original http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp76ly2_NoI&e

punching the word radical in the face

and don't even think about blaming it on testosterone. 

Nobody gives a shit that you don't believe in gender.

HO extension & female involvement

EXTENSION!!!

Originally the deadline for Ho submissions was May 30 2009, but I've extended it! I would really like for this to be an ongoing project. 

If you are planning on contributing, shoot me an email so I can know that they're coming. Also, I am really open to any conversations about the project. 

warren dot gracie at hotmail dot com

See the earliest post tagged with 'ho' for submission requirements and background.

CONSIDERATIONS

One conversation I've had recently is about the lack of contributions by women, t-girls, sistagirls, trans-feminine spectrum id-ing folks, and how I address this with the project. One suggestion was that I define the images as of "trans-masculine sex workers". However, I have included trans-female people in my call-out and I think it is an interesting point of discussion that so far, none of the contributions have been of this identity. 

By redefining the project, I think this could be silencing their lack of involvement. This could be for a million reasons, some of which I could guess but would really like to not speak on their behalf considering this is not my experience. I would really love to hear any feedback from trans-female people on the project in general, or ideas about how their experience can be included in the project. There are a lot of options for this: audio, presenting writing, interviews, etc... 

However, remembering that the point of this project is about the experience of sex working as your birth assigned gender, with a transgender identity. So I would like discussion to be around this as a point of inclusion/exclusion.

It is possible that the promotion or nature of the project is not inclusive of trans women since there is a history of trans women being socially excluded from the homo, dyke and trans-masculine communities I am a part of. This is a problem that should not be perpetuated. So any feedback on addressing this as a point of exclusion is SO WELCOME also.

xxx LOVING THE CONTRIBUTIONS SO FAR. THANKS SO MUCH TO YOU ALL WHO HAVE SENT PHOTOS IN xxxx

gutz, gore, mutant lambies

The GUTS GORE photoshoot by Cyd & I can be found in Slit Magazine's new Weird Science issue!

photos by Okapi

Set in an Industrial Abitoir. A Mad Scientist discects our freak of nature, exploring the mechanisation of animals in the industrial meat complex and experimental science. We are using this story to address the pathologisation and invasive curiosity of transgender people's bodies.

Contact me if you're in Brisbane if you would like a copy of this issue or back issues of Slit. 10 bucks. Or if you're interstate/o.s contact Slit directly or check out their website for stockists.

winter

the world according to susan sontag

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CAMP AND IRONY:

55. Camp taste is, above all, a mode of enjoyment, of appreciation - not judgment. Camp is generous. It wants to enjoy. It only seems like malice, cynicism. (Or, if it is cynicism, it's not a ruthless but a sweet cynicism.) 

Camp taste doesn't propose that it is in bad taste to be serious; it doesn't sneer at someone who succeeds in being seriously dramatic. What it does is to find the success in certain passionate failures.

56. Camp taste is a kind of love, love for human nature. It relishes, rather than judges, the little triumphs and awkward intensities of "character." 

. . . Camp taste identifies with what it is enjoying. People who share this sensibility are not laughing at the thing they label as "a camp," they're enjoying it. Camp is a tender feeling.

sparkle fetish

Glitter babe Okapi put me onto Leigh Bowery inspired makeup artist Pat McGrath.

I don't know much about McGrath, but her work in the context of big name fashion (Galliano, Dior...) is a little reminiscent of madonna rips off vogue culture. But the artistry IS inspiring. I'm that step closer to shaving off my eyebrows.

I want a dress up date

with Susan Sontag ->

Ho: Trans sex workers who make me squirm

Juliet November, amazing sex worker blogger/intellect extraordinaire, has written a post about her experience of viewing the Ho images at my end of semester student show.

You can read about it at Born Whore. ->

President Carter,

Here is the 2nd in the text based video works I was required to do as part of my BFA. They were to be made in LiveType. Again, I feel like there are heaps of limitations with this program. It was great to learn - it will be useful for credits and captions but don't see too much potential to work creatively with it.

Text from 'Blood and Guts in High School' by Kathy Acker.

I originally planned to use this text for a nerd babe performance installation collaboration with Okapi of a dusty library backroom, called The Restricted Section for the Little Fish 'Unleash the Beast' show. Hopefully one day it will still happen!

le sigh

covering beyonce

Venus in Furs

Video/performance referencing the historic S&M novel 'Venus in Furs' by Leopald Sacher-Masoch (1870). The word 'masochism' was derived from the author's name. Something to be remembered for!

Glittery. Gay. Historal recontextualisation. Prancing. Anything that makes me flap my hands like a nancy from being overwhelmed by the cultural references, i gotta LOVE IT. 

The details for this video are unknown, possibly choreographed by Michael Clarke & Leigh Bowery-esque costumes by Brenton Heath-Kerr.

Nina Hagen LEATHER DADDY

1. because she's a genius

2. because she's HOT

HO update

There have been some concerns raised around 'outting' that could incur by contributing photos, outting either as trans or as a sex worker.

Here are some photos of myself that i'm possibly using for my contribution, ones which you can't tell that i'm the subject. I'm also toying with the idea of using identifiable pictures, but i like that there is an option of not outting myself to the general public. I'm expecting to receive contributions that are both identifiable and non-identifiable.

 

Some other ideas are to do shots of you from behind (like an over the shoulder, into a mirror, no flash shot), or body part close ups, or headless shots. Also, avoid using flash where possible as a general rule.

Remember, the deadline is May 30 2009. Feel free to shoot me an email if you want to discuss photo plans, straying from the format i've asked for, any concerns or if you need an extension. warren dot gracie at hotmail dot com

gold diggers of 1933 : musical solution for the economic crisis

Sex work paying the rent during a post-war economic crisis. Sound familiar?

Rent

Props to predecessors

I stumbled across this artist, Laura Parnes who has made video works of Kathy Acker's novel 'Blood and Guts in High School'! 

This novel has had a HUGE impact on my understandings of representation, sexuality, feminism and form. I'm working on a text video series at the moment using excerpts where Acker uses a style of feminist prose to tell stories of sex, violence and manipulation to pick apart the threads of political hierarchy. Metaphor as effigy. The intellect of Kathy Acker is seriously like internal fireworks exploding.

"Blood and Guts in High School" (video installation, 2004-06, 40:00) by Laura Parnes.

An excerpt of her film can be seen here.

The thing that I like about Laura Parnes's video is that it honors the impact that Kathy Acker's work has had on queer and feminist artists. Her style and political force is visible in a lot of art work produced today by young queers and women, (for the Kathy Acker dorks out there) such as holly fluxx's zines & lyrics, eg. there are parallels in the style of thier review of Gio Peter Black and Acker's stories of New York City bars. I appreciate how Laura Parnes's video is something of a literal tribute.

In the same vein, I am LOVING Yoko Ono's collaborative remix album 'Yes, I'm a Witch' with Le Tigre, Peaches and Cat Power.

HO: TRANS SEXWORKER PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECT

CALL OUT FOR SUBMISSIONS

This photographic project will document transgender sexworkers who work presenting as the gender they were assigned at birth and no longer identify as. I will be applying to exhibit the series at different events in Australia, mostly at queer and sexworker arts events and also online. 

Since the photos will be released publicly, contributors will have to be comfortable with disclosure to some extent. However, I will not use your legal name and I’m open to negotiating measures to protect your identity if you would like to contribute but have privacy concerns.

To participate, you will have to consider the implications of the associations of your image and the content.

I am a transgender hustler who works as a lady babe. Primarily, this pays the bills. It also has been both affirming and dysphoria exacerbating, a result of limited financially viable representation options, the safest option, performative and an opportunity to max out lessons in the behavioral codes of feminine wiles. It’s creating a stronger affiliation with femmes and my class background. I feel moments of concern for my safety if a client recognises my face on the street and feels betrayed, and moments of satisfying queer subversion when being told, “You’re the hottest chick I’ve ever seen”, accompanied with a wad of cash.

I’m interested in documenting the process of embodying the rentboy/stripper minx/mistress/etc within, the transformation, the relationship that incurs with our bodies, the culture of trans people sexworking to pay for their medical transition, the connections between transgender identity and class, sexwork and class. I am really happy to have any discussions about representation.

The requirements:

• Email self portrait photographs (taken by you, either by holding the camera or with a self timer) taken while you’re in your ho persona, preferably at work but about to head to work is fine too. Around 5 photos would be great. Send to warren.gracie@hotmail.com
• Do not change the resolution settings on the photos
  
• Working photographs taken in the past are fine if you are not currently working
  
• Give me the following info in the body of the email:
  

  your working name (this can be the one you use or one made up for the project)

  your contact info

  the text “I consent to the use and publication by Warren Gracie of the attached photographs of me”. Include any conditions you have (eg. No online publishing)

  A short blurb on who you are/your experiences or thoughts on working as the gender you were assigned at birth/why you wanted to participate (this part is optional)

The deadline is May 30 2009.

This project is inclusive of pre, post and non medical transition transgender people, including but not limited to female-to-male, male-to-female and genderqueer transgender people. If you identify as trans, you are welcome to participate.

The term ‘sex-worker’ is an umbrella term, including but not limited to dance, full-service, porn, domination, submission, fetish, gf/bf experience and peepshow workers.

Feel free to contact me with any questions. 

warren.gracie@hotmail.com