#cassils

Becoming an image (2012- present) by Cassils In the live performance Becoming an Image, Cassils unleashes an attack on a 2,000 pound clay block in total darkness.

The spectacle is illuminated solely by the flash of a photographer, burning the image into the viewer’s retina. Becoming an Image was originally conceived as a site-specific work for the ONE Archives in Los Angeles, the oldest active LGBTQ archive in the United States. Cassils now performs this work around the world.

Thinking about how it’s been 5 whole years since I saw Cassils perform their work Up To And Including Their Limits at the Gardiner Museum on Feb 20th, 2020, where over the course of an hour and a half they swung from a harness & slowly peeled away a 2 inch layer of clay off of the walls to create a sculpture in the center of the performance space.

I’m thinking about their identity as a trans artist, and the cultural moment we were in regarding trans identities in 2020. Thinking about how much things have changed since then as we enter a second Trump presidency. About how this performance aimed to give what was happening in that cultural moment a physical representation - a record of the work and the harm and the toll of it all.

I’m thinking about visibility & voyeurism & virophages. And how in the weeks that followed, the clay dried on the plexiglass walls and slowly fell to the ground below. I’m thinking about being in the dark and not being able to clearly see what’s happening right in front of you.

I wrote about this performance in the 3rd chapter of my master’s thesis, Seeing Cassils: Transformative Coalitions and the Trap of the Visible in 2020. There is so much I would change about what I said, looking back. If only I’d had the foresight & context of the last 5 years.

enjoyed seeing some male corsetry, a piece and some words on Hermaphroditus, and i hadn't realised how large the image of Cassils was going to be, it really stood out as a centrepiece. also got to tell my mum I've supported work by the museum of transology, which was great to see in the exhibition -- almost wish there could have been a bit more in the section around surgery, but it was a pretty big exhibit already. i just felt like there was a lack of context between "this man who has performed thousands of plastic surgeries in brazil, this art-piece about rhinoplasty, and trans people" although i appreciated the pieces they did include within the latter section especially

the elements around reclaiming heritage were also so standout! i get there's only so much space on such a large theme, so while i may have wanted to see more (one image that i could see that was about fatphobia? although also mentioned in connection with another bit) it was neat how much was dedicated to blackness, including the longer video at the end and the toni morrison quote, which i did hear a few people commenting on who didn't know who she was, so hopefully also has introduced a few folks

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York is the only dedicated LGBTQIA+ art museum in the world with a mission to exhibit and preserve LGBTQIA+ art and foster the artists who create it.

In the Preface for the publication entitled “Queer Holdings,” the editors Gonzalo Casals and Noam Parness write that “the act of presenting, archiving, and collecting queer art is still a political act. In this context, there is a renewed sense of urgency for queer visibility, but this context simultaneously opens opportunities for critical conversations and visualizations toward more expansive forms of visibility.”

This sense of urgency seems even more prevalent in today’s political climate, and in the time of growing hostility and violent crimes against many LGBTQIA+ communities. We stand together in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities here at Harvard and beyond.

November 20th was International Transgender Day of Remembrance as a day to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia. Cassils, who is on the cover of the publication, is a transgender performance artist. They make their body the material for a form of social sculpture to address the history of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle and survival.

Image: Cropped image from the front cover. Cassils. “Becoming an Image Performance Still No.4, National Theater Studio, SPILL Festival, London 2013”, C-print. 22”x30”

Cassils

Gender: Transgender non binary (they/them)

Sexuality: N/A 

DOB: N/A 

Ethnicity: White