Jacksonville
Video Installation with Live Score 2021
Installation took place at the 2021 Open Air Media Festival in Iowa City, Iowa, with a live score performed by my new music quartet, Justin Comer and the Unblessed Rest of Us.
Link to video documentation.
Artist Statement: While still negotiating with the visibility of being a closeted trans woman, I had taken a trip to Jacksonville, Florida. While taking a boat to one of Florida's state parks, I was anxious about not looking enough like either gender to pass. As I tried to ignore inquisitive looks from families, an incredible cisgendered lesbian couple got on the boat. They looked like goddesses. I was overcome with the joy of seeing other gay people on the boat and humiliated by a reactive anger at witnessing their unapologetic cisgender queerness. I felt like a freak, and I dissociated on the boat while waiting for us to reach our island destination. I focused on my camera and captured scenes of the water. The visual material from this moment was expanded and used to cover the inside of the old Public Access Television Station (this was the last public performance in the space before it’s demolishment) in Iowa City for the 2021 Open Air Media Festival where my new music quartet, Justin Comer and the Unblessed Rest of Us, performed for three nights. Our improvisations, focused on the words violence and visibility, were broadcast live on the radio station, KRUI 89.7 FM.