In response to a discussion on "camp", and the cultural impact of the elusive genre, I honed in on the theme of gender and hyper-stereotyping. Often in depictions of "camp" there is a caricaturing of objects and concepts regarding stereotypical representations, especially of sex and gender roles.
Using an old pair of Bugle Boy Jeans I sewed and sculpted a phallic figure emerging from the pant opening, as though it were busting through the seams and zipper closure. The containment of the figure is futile, as the form hangs low over the hem nearly dragging down the pants with it. The title "*stiff denim*" plays on this hyper-masculine obsession and insecurity with flaccid phallic forms, simultaneously nodding to the masculine aesthetic and culture around stiff styled denim. While referencing this sense of work and toughness through the use of material, and yet allowing the form to fall flat to gravity itself, we notice a moment of impotence - failing to live up to the expectations of such histories and culture. The confrontation of such failure engages with that of the unproductive nature in the assumption of gender roles. This commentary isolates the phallic form in the attempt to deny judgement on the male figure, and rather to confront the stigma surrounding the embodiment of masculine culture and the monstrous manifestation of expectation. february 2021
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a study in the relationship between gender and material
med. recycled denim, stuffed
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