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The Lesbian First Aider (working title)
- a piece on speculative fabulation that urges action-taking and collectiveness in times of emergencies.
List of material:
Metal hanger, denim, off-cut fabric, fabric pen, plinth
Blurb:
“The apocalypse* is coming. The fascist-zombies are among us and more are to come. Preparation is the key! And where do we put the keys? In our pockets. The Lesbian First Aider has many pockets, The Lesbian First Aider has the potential to be well-prepared.”
(*The term ‘apocalypse’ is applied for the purpose of story-telling: it is important to resist looking at “the apocalypse” as an event ahead of us, in the unforeseeable dystopian future, but as many urgent crises, conflicts and wars that are very much ours right now, current and ongoing.)
Description:
A denim vest, with an excessive amount of pockets in varied sizes, is displayed on a silver metal hanger for a 360-view. An accompanying text explains the concept: The Lesbian First Aider is a speculative piece that urges the viewer to consider action-taking in times of emergencies. What tools do we need in order to (re)form collectiveness, horizontal collaboration and shared support networks while rejecting violence and hierarchical authority? A plinth is positioned near the vest on top of which a pile of off-cut fabrics (approx. 5x8cm) and fabric pens are placed. The viewer is encouraged to write down their chosen tool on a piece of off-cut and place it in one of the vest pockets. Over the course of the exhibition, the pockets will fill up more and more, and become a symbol of a robust toolkit, collectively built. Importantly, the word “tool” may be interpreted differently. In fact, the viewer is encouraged to consider the word both figuratively and abstractly: whereas one might bring a hammer, sewing kit or a cooking set, someone else might contribute with first aid knowledge, funny jokes or kindness. As the exhibition comes to an end, all the off-cuts will be sewn together and made into a new piece of art as a concluding performance.
The vest is made from two pairs of upcycled jeans. Denim is a deeply queer coded material and plays a great relevance in queer fashion. The denim vest, and pockets, are references to utilitarian dykeness. I also chose to work with denim because of its durable quality, representing strength and vigor. I am further drawn to the vest as a garment because its potential to be read as gender neutral and is often associated with practicality; we see vests being used in various sports such as hunting or fishing, and professions such as carpenters, electricians and road workers, where the many pockets come handy for the various tools required for each role.
Within the theme of utopian vision, the piece functions as a narration that prompts the viewer to imagine new worlds through arousing an appetite for what is possible. The conceptual and anonymous figure of The Lesbian First Aider is used, not as the hero of a tale, but as a starting point for reflection: becoming-with each other calls for recognising the personal measures needed, identifying the individualised tool to fill the shared pockets with. The Lesbian First Aider is not here to fix things for us, but to prompt us to fix, restructure and maintain things collectively. The Lesbian First Aider symbolises the strength of togetherness and kinship: if we all provide one tool each, and put it in the pocket, we come out with a diverse toolkit. The work is about appreciating what each person can bring to the table, understanding the individual strength and how each tool, whatever size or function, has potential and can contribute to the collective body.