SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

This course will surface the ways in which LGBTQ+ people and communities have impacted the ways in which mainstream American culture has been shaped by cultural production derived from thinking that challenges heteronormativity in post-World War II America until the validation of same sex marriage in 2014 Through the lenses of queer theory, evolving queer history, Since the emergence of “homosexuality” and “transsexuality” as identities in the late 19th century, queer culture has been presumed to develop in the margins of American life, ancillary to and shaped by heterosexual norms. Yet, the vast majority of queer people in the last hundred years have lived (to at least some degree) in the closet, allowing them to exist in the mainstream while maintaining a distinctly non-normative identity. Thus, to quote bell hooks, allowing them "to bring the margin into the center." In 15 meetings over the course of the semester, through lectures, discussions, texts, slides, films and video, we will explore the ways in which transformative integration of queer designs for living have occurred. Highlighting pivotal events and shifts in American cultural, political, and creative history this course will provide food for thought about the ways in queerness is integral to American notions of progress and freedom.

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Felix Gonzalez Torres, Conceptual Artist

Torres was known for his sculptures. The last decade of his life was geared towards creating pieces revolving around being a gay man during the AIDS epidemic and gay-bashing. 

I was first introduced to him at the Wadsworth Athenium located in Hartford, CT. 
I had seen his work floating around the internet but this was the first time I got to see it in person, a physical representation of queer love and how doomed it felt during the late 20th century. It sat in a small corner of the Athenium's Pride Collection which was full of documentary film and Warhol prints. 
The piece is called Untitled (Perfect Lovers) and it features two wall clocks touching. At the beginning of the installation they are synced up perfectly but will eventually fall out of time with one another. Torres used it to represent him and his lover who were both succumbing to AIDS related complications although this is just an interpretation. Others believed it to be a version of vanitas or a symbol of mortality. 
This is not the only piece Torres has created with themes of Queerness and AIDS. His 1991 piece, Untitled (Portrait of Ross) depicts a pile of candy. Spectators are encouraged to take a piece of the candy, and workers of the gallery will replenish it. It has been interpreted as the weight loss Torres' partner experienced before he passed away from AIDs complications. 




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Erika Bauer - Final Project

 Link to my final project https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10M3X31MtgSnCAicMzf6pDhINFAjSNRaGX8BJnh3_9Eg/edit