Black

To be black and queer is to be rendered invisible. Throughout our existence, black queer and trans people have carved out our own spaces to overcome dominant social perspectives that invalidate our lives and experiences. SPECULUM investigates black queer identity through the context of color and visual theory.

 

What is color? What is identity? Does it exist beyond the way it is perceived by us? 

 

Color as we know it is not reality but, rather, a vast and complex relationship between light energy and our ability to see. Humans have invented tools to help us explore parts of our universe unseen by the naked eye. SPECULUM digs deep to shed light on that which reaches beyond the limits of human sense and perception. Art and storytelling allows us to reclaim the parts of us that are silenced and invisibilized. Through sharing our stories, we challenge the cis-white male heterosexual gaze and other “common sense” notions of identity in order to invoke black queer visibility.

 

SPECULUM aims to open eyes and minds to the unbound complexity of lived experiences. This is for black queers who consider existing when the rainbow isn't enuf. Journey with us through the intersections of black queerness.  

 

This project was sponsored by The Theater Offensive's 2017 OUT'Hood Artist Residency.