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