2017
Sheer—Naked—Aggression
HD Video, 2-Channel Sound (Mosquito alarm, IDF drones and sonic boom)
Metal Frame, Chains, 2-Way Mirror Film, Vinyl Text
Chalton Gallery, London
“from the glint of leather in the corner, to way back in my head: the firm boot in the sand by the border checkpoint…”
‘Sheer—Naked—Aggression’ explores how cultural symbols of violence intersect with structural violence. It connects direct experiences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and having grown up in the Arab diaspora to specific contexts in the Middle East and North Africa including military intervention, torture, conflict and occupation. There are similarities in materials and techniques between queer BDSM and torture: ropes, sensory deprivation or sensation play—but in radically different contexts, where the tools of oppression became potential tools of emancipation for marginalised people. What is the potential for (consenting) enactments of violence, for empowerment and subversion in the queer erotic imaginary, in order to re-work and reclaim symbols of power, and for them to be experienced as a positive catharsis? How may queer people renegotiate common roles and positions within BDSM— such as those relating to authority—and what is the allure of symbols of authority and discipline even though we may not ourselves support authoritarianism, police, state or military violence?
Soft to Shrapnel (2017) HD Video
'constant treading-water that is living-suspended' (2017)
A text for Archipelago Issue 4. Melancholia
(Part of a series: barren, salt threads, scrapings, groaning below bitumen, grief stretched out over time, camel plastic)
HD Video, 2-Channel Sound (Mosquito alarm, IDF drones and sonic boom)
Metal Frame, Chains, 2-Way Mirror Film, Vinyl Text
Chalton Gallery, London
SHEER—NAKED—AGGRESSION from Sophie Hoyle on Vimeo.
“from the glint of leather in the corner, to way back in my head: the firm boot in the sand by the border checkpoint…”
‘Sheer—Naked—Aggression’ explores how cultural symbols of violence intersect with structural violence. It connects direct experiences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and having grown up in the Arab diaspora to specific contexts in the Middle East and North Africa including military intervention, torture, conflict and occupation. There are similarities in materials and techniques between queer BDSM and torture: ropes, sensory deprivation or sensation play—but in radically different contexts, where the tools of oppression became potential tools of emancipation for marginalised people. What is the potential for (consenting) enactments of violence, for empowerment and subversion in the queer erotic imaginary, in order to re-work and reclaim symbols of power, and for them to be experienced as a positive catharsis? How may queer people renegotiate common roles and positions within BDSM— such as those relating to authority—and what is the allure of symbols of authority and discipline even though we may not ourselves support authoritarianism, police, state or military violence?
Soft to Shrapnel (2017) HD Video
'constant treading-water that is living-suspended' (2017)
A text for Archipelago Issue 4. Melancholia
(Part of a series: barren, salt threads, scrapings, groaning below bitumen, grief stretched out over time, camel plastic)
