Week 12 Apply and Reflect

 As we read about gender and how society viewed gender, it made me wonder if there were any exhibits for transgender people in museums. I did a bit of digging and found the following exhibit in the New York City's New Museum; Consciousness Razing—The Stonewall Re-Memorialization Project. This not only documents parts of Stonewall, but also a slew of ever changing pieces (Morely, 2018). The pieces constantly shift and change to reflect how gender and the times shifts and change for the future.
Photo of Installation view of Consciousness Razing—The Stonewall Re-Memorialization Project, organized by artist Chris E. Vargas and the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art (MOTHA)Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s gleaming gutter rats (Courtesy the New Museum)

 This museum features pieces from 13 different artists, including Nicki Green, Chris Bogia, and Jibz Cameron. The piece featured, Gleaming Gutter Rats by Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, portray queer people as shining rats. The exhibit itself is more meant to create the feelings that stonewall invoked rather than creating a memorial or recreating the scene in general (Morely, 2018). I wish that trans related things were not so centered around pain or fighting.Trans peoples lives are a fight, but it would be nice to celebrate trans culture, with things such as drag or the history of trans people across the world, not just here in America. I feel as though elaborating upon this would let people realize gender isn't a binary and that this isn't a kind of fad or anything. It's just that the world is safer now compared to when the stonewall riots happened, let alone when gay marriage was legalized.It's incredible to see kids coming out at age 15, they feel safe with their family and trust them and the world to help them through. As we move forward, perhaps judgemental cis people will realize gender was holding them back, and not be as quick to judge. And maybe even museum exhibits such as this, will allow others to see trans and non conforming people in a different and more positive light.

Morely, J. (2018, October 31). The Museum of Trans Hirstory & Art (MOTHA) queers monument design. The Architect’s Newspaper; https://www.facebook.com/archpaper/. https://www.archpaper.com/2018/10/motha-stonewall-memorial-new-museum/

 

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