Featured Artist: Eliza Swann

Eliza Swann “A Bright Hand in Darkness”, 2014. HD Video Still, 6:16 from Gently Ai Goes Home   “A Bright Hand in Darkness”, 2014. HD Video Still, 6:16, “Light is the left hand of darkness…”   “A Bright Hand in Darkness”, 2014. HD Video Still, 6:16, The Blizzard   “A Bright Hand in Darkness”, 2014. HD Video Still, 6:16, “I am an exile—you for my sake and I for yours.”   “A Bright Hand in Darkness”, 2014. HD Video Still, 6:16, Why “Men” are Not Men   “A Bright Hand in Darkness”, 2014. HD Video Still, 6:16, “In the beginning there was ice and sun…”

Seams by Migueltzinta Solís

By Migueltzinta Cah Mai Solís Pino Gender, the garment, has been tailored. But does it know the body like spandex? Is it a pair of jeans—machined, carved in that way, its fibers dilating and contracting as demanded? Or possibly the gender garment is a knit tube sock—a strange color, loose in places? A tiny knot in a corner and, otherwise, seamless. Really, a body, a gender, a self-presentation that is seamless is like nothing else. It is owned—yes, with a little help, I made this. Where are the seams? You marvel aloud. Show them to me, highlight them, use this laser pointer, show me where to touch that I may feel with my fingertips where they hid the seams. Make the distinction known between this decision and that moment. When did you know? When did you become…? What was the moment when woman became man, dyke became queen, marimacha became maricón? I’d say the moment was when that man got into his pickup truck, while, broom in my hand, I watched him through one-way glass. That was in late 2010, in rural Oaxaca; the sky blue with rain, but the earth dry and split open in places. A thief, I stole...
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in defense of art by Aimee Herman

By Aimee Herman replace body with round of applause slap deportation of immunized bones draw map of grade nine depression sloppy kiss cartographer for compass brand benefactors & advertisements into forearms non–narrate the spaces of gender utilize humor when categorizing medicinal habits call framework pre–Reconstruction index teeth as artifacts due to lack of care belly is a sanctuary of bent laws how paradoxical is this panic what border are your shoulders crossing hybrid outcasts called lips territories or terrorists problematize the concept of veins mixed–media thighs decolonize wounds what is the occupation of this anatomy invent inventory for what is missing does this morning breath perplex what is the chosen medium can this blood be a contribution gift pulsate sweat into curved signature [it may be possible to] alienate audience enforce live ritual of dramatized history curators will fill in gaps of forced memory record visceral reaction onto comment cards photograph face interrupting art exercise risk through prohibited camera flash embody theory of missed communications or anthropologized dysfunction