Party: GAYHOLE with ROMAN SHOWERS: Crypsis vs Aposematism

Party: GAYHOLE with ROMAN SHOWERS: Crypsis vs Aposematism

ROMAN SHOWERS is back to stretch the hole to new dimensions. This week, your hostess invites you to a Gayhole with the catchy title: “Abject Identities and 'Queer' Survival Techniques #2: Crypsis vs. Aposematism”

In times of crisis and economic rescission, those on the bottom or outside of society are often the first to feel the consequences, as ‘ordinary’ people see their jobs disappear and their lives crumble. In the last years Greece has seen a drastic increase in violence against immigrants and asylum seekers, as well as actual killings (*). The same country has also experienced so called sex worker ‘clean-ups’, where sex workers are violently removed from the streets and subjected to humiliating forced hiv testing, or sometimes simply thrown in jail (**). This is in addition to the constant threat of violence and prejudice these people, as well as many trans* people (the different "categories" overlap, of course) and the Roma face in most European societies, also those in less despair than Greece.

To manage the dangers of these abject states of being, we turn to the world of non-human animals for inspiration. Animals employ quite an amazing different number of strategies to avoid detection. These different forms of body camouflage, known collectively as ‘Crypsis’ include animals with the ability to blend into their surroundings with remarkable precision, or visually break down the shape and edges of the body, altering shadows, or sometimes even transparency. All of this in a spectacular evolutionary arms race against predators (who employ the same strategies) to avoid being eaten.

A completely opposite zoological strategy, know as ‘Aposematism,’ sees animals with bright warning colors, clearly highlighting the body and indicating to predators: don’t eat me, or you’ll regret it!

What are the potentials of these different strategies of survival in a human context? Your hostess will reflect on this question, and present small samples of their recent research, such as:

- “Trans-parency: State Surveillance and Fabulous Strategies for Crossing Virtual and National Borders”
- “ ’But I’m Femme on the Inside’: Cis-Privilege and Invisibility Drag”
- “Disruptive Coloration 101: Erasing Bodily Boundaries”

++++++++++
Chameleon surrealness, XXXTREME Exhibitionism, and Spectrophilia (aka ‘ghost fetish’)


+++++++++++ MUSIC, DARKROOM AND KARAOKE ! +++++++++++



* http://map.crisis-scape.net/
** http://www.2ndcouncilhouse.co.uk/blog/2013/06/05/and-then-they-came-for-the-trans-people/

Invited: Alonso Dominguez Sanchez Teruel, Ashkan Sepahvand, Walter Crasshole, Yony Leyser, John Renaud, Jon Campbell, Rip Sy, Ah Di Nah Bier, Colin Comfort, Oli Martin Cayless, Gonzalo Fidalgo, Matty Horrorchata, Antonio Onio, Jon Isdark, Michael Brauchli, Fotis Geranios, Gunnar U H Neumann, L'autre Génie, Florian Hetz, Saiid Ismati, Holger Krause, Davor Bauk, Sebastian Hoffmann, Travis Jeppesen, Ari De B, Kristian Vistrup Madsen, Ralf Thiessies, Alice Evermore, Sophie Iremonger, Alison Miller, Philipp TZ, Lerato Khathi, Dickey Roloff, Ciara Alexandra, Anika Kuntze, Paul Gaspelin, Simon Leahy, Simon Brix, Armando Wallentin, Loella Pehrsson, Filipe Serro, Ansis Kirmuzs, Tomas Hemstad, Brian-Tennessee Claflin, Romain Frequency, Omar Kasmani, Amnon Friedman, Dave Egan, Lena Olafsdottir, Jost Nicolas Sarwoko, Shara Vasileva, Cindy Wunderbar, Daniel Distel, David Rycraft, Mats Fiebig-Rycraft, Lee Leevike, Rossa John Waldron, Adam Ryan Thomas, Sara Svärtan Persson, Carla Fra Størup, Imogen Heath, Steev Lemercier, Buddhapeste Minichic, Shambhu Leroux, Idån Sagiv Richter, Sean Barker, Yung Kvba, Lee Leevike, John Di Carlo, Anto Azzopardi, Stephane Mashyno, Kenneth Ruus Blakensteriner Cockwhore, Jose Vigers, Stefan Kehl, Kerrie Ann Bearcat Murphy, Johanna Malene Geiger, Richard Kirschstein, David Sculli, Boris Cyß Ørg, Tommy Camerno, Maurice Baker, Diane Busuttil, Dâra Dolounaï, Patrick Bartsch, Mary Ocher, Sam Icklow, Mad Kate, Craig Teatime, Katie Foolsgold, Adrian Hermanides, Daniel Zobel, Thom Ravnholdt, La Julu, Davide Biagiotti Chagall, Fabio Campagna, Roey Heifetz, Christian Modersbach von Vorn, Gabriel Matthew Walsh, Samuel Gieben, Can Gedick show more »