Having spent the past few months completing Fragments of a Punk Opera, working on my PhD upgrade 'exam' and with the odd dash of awkward reality (just for kicks), I've finally found some time to reflect on what I've accomplished so far - made possible by my upgrade process - and also where it'll all be going in the next couple of years, now that I seem to be firmly on course.
Hardwired was featured in the recent art school research expo, and as such was able to reach a wider, and more general, audience - thanks perhaps also to my presentation on the subject and its themes at the expo opening: 'Digital Media as Means and Method of Individuation': DJCAD Research Expo '23 Talk and Presentation
The inclusion of the head as a faux 'surveillance device' which also reflects the gaze of the viewer (in a complete reversal of the Medusa myth of Perseus' shield) was an interesting choice, and suggests that works are ever rarely as complete as we think they are - when installation in a new environment can kick off exciting and additional ways of presentation and interaction. Having given four talks about this film in as many months to various audiences has also allowed me to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the film (made almost exactly a year ago now) and how I can move forwards with similar, bigger, better works. A Punk Opera is certainly ambitious but needs equally thoughtful curating, something I'll begin thinking about soon.
The cyborg theme was also presented at the University 'Nietzsche, Science, Life & Art' symposium at the end of 2022, featuring an iteration of a drawing which features in Hardwired:
Inside the Wild and Highly Lucrative Erotic Art Industry
written for Vice magazine, where I had much to say on the subject of kink and fetishization in art (most specifically on the pornographic 'shemale' form), but only a little of it was used - still, nice to be namechecked, and be out there in the media!
Having now pinned down the themes at stake and subject matter of what will be the second chapter of the thesis - the erotic art of John Howard and 'shemale'/futanari in general - I'm now able to consider how this leads into the proposed third chapter, which discusses webcam porn performance and the personal, and wider, issues therein.
It'll be good to return to the thesis chapters with new, well-informed eyes and with any luck a coherent structure will soon begin to emerge. And with the confidence boost that I'm now a fully-fledged researcher, things ought to gain traction as the writing becomes more coherent, and goes on to inform further practice.
