In Cassils’ film Etched in Light we encounter the ongoing political realities of transgender rights in America. Cassils - a Transgender artist - documents a visual and sonic performance that took place on Trans Day of Visibility (March 31, 2024) at the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Cassils, chose this location to engage with the history of the site as a platform for countless past activists. Over 100 performers gathered together and were instructed to lie down on four large canvases in choreographed positions.
These canvases were then subsequently transformed into cyanotypes with the imprints of the performers’ bodies left behind. The use of cyanotypes provided Cassils space to elaborate on the history and impact of photography whilst commenting on the power to deny the voyeuristic gaze often imposed on Trans bodies.
Cassils is a Canadian transgender artist who makes their own body the material and protagonist of their performances. Their art contemplates the histories of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle, and empowerment. For Cassils, performance is a form of social sculpture: Drawing from the idea that bodies are formed in relation to forces of power and social expectations, their' work investigates historical contexts to examine the present moment.
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