Bound and Determined: MFA Thesis
John Dart Photography
Bound and Determined is a thesis in three parts. First, there is representation of the installation in rotation with the other thesis projects being screened in the screening room of the Arcade Gallery. Second, there is an installation in the Arcade Gallery that includes books bound in Japanese rope bondage and shifting media images on several screens. Third, there is a short performance incorporating additional shifting media images.
Arcade Gallery Theater in the South Loop at 618 SOUTH MICHIGAN (second floor). All performances are FREE to attend. The installations and screening room are located on the second floor. The theater is also located on the second floor, and is only open during the thesis show times listed below:
PERFORMANCES ARE:
THURSDAY- April 22, 2010 @2pm
THURSDAY- April 22, 2010 @7pm
FRIDAY- April 23,2010 @7pm
SATURDAY- April 24,2010 @3pm
THE INSTALLATION IS AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING:
BEGINNING AT 5PM FRIDAY APRIL 23RD AND WILL REMAIN OPEN DURING BUSINESS HOURS THROUGH SATURDAY, MAY 15TH.
Please join us for our closing reception on Friday, May 14th from 4-7.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
John Dart Photography
Bound and Determined by Tamale Sepp
Bound and Determined is a MFA thesis in three parts. Drawing from my identity as a queer educator and performer, I explore what it means to participate in mediated transcendence through the use of performance and multi-media installation elements. Themes of restraint, responsibility, consensual struggle, and vulnerability are prevalent in my work.
The installation portion of my work reflects the internal conversation around personal struggle. Often, we seek out situations and people that cause us to feel trapped, restricted, and bound. We make decisions that tie us to outcomes, commitments, and ordeals we never intended, but somehow invited. By binding self-help books originally written to help us untie ourselves from both our self-imposed chosen and unsolicited struggles, I draw a correlation between the struggle we invite and release from its grasp. The juxtaposition of a bound woman through video imagery similarly reflects how we contain the knowledge and ability to release us from our entrapment, but may remain willfully bound. Japanese rope bondage, is incorporated in the binding of these books to reflect the consensual manner in which we engage our struggle, while being held so completely at its mercy.
Shifting images appear on screens in the installation showing an exposed woman, bound by a series of signature Japanese rope bondage knots. She is crying, and as the camera eventually reveals, wears a smile as well. The screens are viewed though the vertical red ropes suspending an assortment of books, reflective of jail cell bars. Red nylon rope, the most popular choice in rope bondage “scenes”, is used to suspend the books at various heights. On each book, the signature knots are spaced intentionally to allow the titles and specific lines of text to be read. The woman is encased by these ropes, knots, and books, yet remains and smiles through the struggle. As the frames shift over her body, we take in and identify with her plight, eventually discovering she holds the ends of the rope, tethered by her own choice. The public is invited to examine their own self-imposed struggles and ask questions about their participation in their circumstances.
The performative portion of my thesis demonstrates the acknowledgment and incorporation of the previous personal investigation as viewed in the installation. Queer identity informs the way we experience the worlds of our private and public lives. Although these worlds may remain forever separate, overlap is found through the experiences of the person participating in each. My performance investigates how we draw on our various worlds to enhance our experience in the others. I ask myself how the interactions found in one area of my life can enrich the others areas, and in so doing, the experiences I sculpt for others. Shifting images of hands, red rope, and bondage knots are projected onstage. Verbs selected for their relevance in both the public and private domains of the performers life softly surface then disappear throughout the performance. From scene to scene, we watch queer identity simultaneously hold space in both private and public worlds.
The screening room allows for the representation of the original installation coupled with portions of the performance for those unable to attend the live performance. Moments alone in the dark screening room allow for a personal connection with the content, asking the viewer to examine their own experiences and the overlap they consciously and unconsciously create in their own lives.
This project was made possible by the generous support of an Albert P. Weisman Award, a fellowship with the Ellen Stone Bellic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media, a Rosenblum Award, and the help of various anonymous donations. A special thank you to the Dublin Lesbian Arts Festival and the International Drag King Extravaganza gender conference for having me as their guest.
Shout Outs:
Thank you to the staff and faculty of the Interdisciplinary Arts Department, as well as each of my grad school peers. It’s been a pleasure knowing you throughout this process.
A special thank you to Jenny Magnus and Mel Potter (for your collective brilliance, wisdom, and sense of humor), Sherry Antonini (scene development), and Bryan Sayner (for sparking the idea).
Another special thank you to those blessed angels who supported me through the epic crap storm of 2009. I would not have made it, much less finished grad school, without you. I love you- deeply.
A VERY special thanks to my RMPS (Revered Minion Posse Squad):
Shaun Clayton (lots of media assistance)
Stephanie Lupu (media assistance, editing, and love)
Linda Torres (installation assistance and back tickles)
Kricket (head petting, more back tickles, and book binding)
Angeleah Daidone (photos and vanity fanning)
Sam Bryer (photography and continuous artistic inspiration)
John Dart Photography (photo documentation and gelato)
Descara (shabari master and the temporary boss of me)
Thank you to my terrific parents and awesome siblings. I love you.
