Exorcisms

Exorcisms is a moving image triptych that showcases three digital queer bodies in flux. The bodies shown in Exorcisms are each constructed from up to 210 individual digital photographs that are destructively edited and layered. In doing so, the individuals seen are shown in multiple torn fragments through time within a single moment. Companies like Meta (Facebook) and Epic Games are attempting to construct shared, digital metaverses that users will be able to move through with the aid of digital avatars. In these spaces, we will theoretically be able to construct and present ourselves in any capacity we choose. Social media companies, like Meta, have been at the forefront of both presenting ourselves in a curated fashion through platforms like Instagram, while also being the gatekeepers of what they deem to be acceptable presentation. Often marginalized communities, like the LGBT+, BIPOC, and sex work communities, are the first to fall victim to such regulations. In the future, with all the freedom that is promised with metaverses, will true freedom of expression be permitted or will the bodies of marginalized communities continue to be fractured and forced into the fringes of these new digital spaces? Will there even be space made for these communities?  

The three moving image channels that Exorcisms is comprised of are modular, and are able to be recontextualized for a variety of presentation methods. The work is very lightly animated, opting to use the fabric’s ambient movement to showcase the bodies moving. Originally envisioned as three, separate vertical projections on fabric curtains, they are easily reconfigured to be presented in a wide-variety of shapes and sizes depending on space and tech availability.  There is no audio component to the work.