Keith Cole

Stickers and Glitter: The Politics of Being Bejeweled and Bedazzled and The Deep Gay Apparatus

This MFA thesis includes the design and construction of a performance moving apparatus called The Deep Gay Apparatus (TDGA). It references durational and performative works by contemporary artists, often emulating the visionary artistic practice of Jack Smith. The theoretical framework deployed includes the theory of disidentification as posited by José Esteban Muñoz. The project required a durational walk with TDGA in which I extensively played with my own Faggotry using radical artist Bruce LaBruce as an influence. I pushed the boundaries of my body using strength, both mental and physical and collected the everyday, made drawings, collaged, made performances and used my body as a documentary tool. I displayed my new artworks at an open-air exhibition which culminated the five day, 95 hour long performance. The performative medium was my body, the method was heuristic and time was the theme that transformed TDGA as an object and me as artist.

 2012