Tuan Gazagnes
“To tell a ghost story means being willing to be haunted.”
Judith "Jack" Halberstam
My work is a result of a 2-year investigation of queer identity. Identity is not a tangible thing, and it can be very difficult to define. My works have a ghostly and uncanny quality because, as has been suggested by Halberstam, queer history was for a long time hidden and violent; based on shame, frustration and guilt. Throughout a few projects such as Gay Loneliness and Between Reality and Fantasy, I have questioned the very nature of being queer. I was aiming at finding a methodology, which involves selecting existing artefacts that had the potential to be read as queer. The criteria for the selection was that the artefacts should have a strong aesthetic character and evoke gender, sexuality, masculinity/femininity or a gay identity. I used different pipelines employed in the VFX industry: for instance, modelling, texturing and lighting. Throughout a process of changing and adding but also layering different digital materials, these images emerged as an evidence of a far but yet close history that has become familiar; which has gradually become a part of my own identity.
Historically, since the early 1930s, scholars have been trying to define a gay identity. After the gay revolution that occurred in the 70s and the HIV crisis in the 80s, queer studies emerged, followed by queer theory. However, modern, postmodern and post-area are very distinct Ideologically because of the use of specific terminology and ideological mindsets. For example, Foucault's mindset was quite different from postmodernists because of his positivistic thinking; indeed, for a modernist, knowledge is located in the world of the form – as a separate domain of knowledge, which we should be learning from. Judith Butler’s empirical approach to knowledge differentiated her from previous modernist scholars. Today, we are living in a queer normative frame that some call homonormativity; for example, RuPaul, a telereality tv judge at the RuPaul Drag Race is very much the product of this queer evolution. RuPaul has found a platform to popularise queer and theory studies with a visual language that is very easy to understand. Inspired by queer studies and theory, I produced three set of images: Duality of Power and Sexuality; The Queer Uncanny, Sissy That Walk.
Mimesis is a powerful way to illustrate historical ideological shifts. Plato viewed mimesis as art reflecting the world as it is; a mirror, turned to the world. Erich Auerbach, in Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, viewed art as a ‘heterocosm’ (an alternative world) that simulates our familiar world. According to Auerbach, mimesis does not involve imitating a ‘real world’, therefore it only offers a persuasive, or ‘lifelike’, simulation of it; it is like a mirror implicitly turned to the spectator and his or her beliefs. A conscious decision was made to strengthen the photorealism of these images so the audience could believe that these artefacts actually existed. I have also mimicked techniques that archaeologists use to record and showcase knowledge, from drawings to X-rays and museum installations.
In art, often in quite subtle ways, queer artists and intellectuals have popularised this subject, for example, Laurence Anyway by Xavier Dolan, Kid by Eddy of Pretto, How Do You Sleep? by Sam Smith. Therefore, my work is aligned with a contemporary need for expressing this condition of being different. There are a few artists I have been inspired by: Andy Lomas, who uses CGI to create molecular otherworldly renders, and whose work Cellular Forms won The Lumen Prize Gold Award. David Maisel, whose exhibition History's Shadow showcases photography of X-ray of historic artefacts. Quayola, an Italian artist who was trained as a stone carver and has infused his work with his training in classical art. He later used techniques such as node distortion in nuke to create abstract painting, 3d scans and 3d printing.
My idea for further research involves a deeper analysis of queer identity. My love of historical artefacts inspired me to create a PhD proposal with the collaboration of archaeologists, aiming at finding a bridge between science and an artistic research. While reading books on queer art history, I noticed that most historians focused their research within western culture and although there are books specialised in Asian queer subculture, it was hard to find any papers or books on cultures from Africa or from parts of Oceania. Queer theory has demonstrated successfully that homosexuality was a constructed identity; however, there are many cultures that have embraced gender dysphoria. For example, the Native American thought that individuals who are transgender have two souls, and the Maori have a special status for third sex individuals.
I will continue to explore and push CGI as an artistic medium. Exploring virtual reality may be a future route for artistic research. Virtual reality is now a VFX industry standard. Used as visualisation in Avatar, the Jungle Book and the latest Lion King, this technology has revolutionised the structure of movies and their process of creation. One of the issues that I noticed in the art world is that CGI or virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are not well used because artists are not trained in this industry, which often results in projects that use these technologies for interesting effects rather than a thoughtful and truly immersive experience. I believe that with my technical knowledge I could contribute to expanding VR and it is a rich medium of exploration.
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