Real Life Tests : recycled lives examined

[laura_seabrook]

Under the cut is my 2nd draft of my Masters proposal which I should be submitting tomorrow. I can't tell you just how stressed I've been to get to this point. Right or wrong, I've felt that these projects are "too important" to fuck up. So here's the second draft (ignore the strange characters as this is an export from Open Office):

Real Life Tests : recycled lives examined

Art Project

I envision two works to address the question "How does the process of Gender Transition affect a person's life?" Gender Transition is the process by which a person modifies their appearance, changes their social role and presents in society as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. Rather than take an overtly pathological or clinical approach - which often relies solely on medical/psychological theory developed mainly as a framework for "experts" - I will to answer this question by creating two graphic novels: Real Life Trips (RLT) and Gender Transition for Innocents (GTFI).

Real Life Trips

This will be a "fictionalised" and focussed biography. The main character Edgar / Elsie will be based on me, and the main stories will be taken from real trips I've made in the past "I kept detailed journals of each). The names of other people and places will be cosmetically changed. For example, Sydney will become "Emerald City” and Ralph Pay (a real life friend) will become "Max Cash". By using pseudonyms and substitute names throughout the work I can be more candid about events, and avoid upset to those involved. It will also give the work a less localised flavour. The stories will include:

1985 -- A road-trip by three Perth friends "Edgar, James and Max) to that year's World Science Fiction Convention1, Aussiecon II in Melbourne;

1992 -- Edgar visits Sydney with his lover Crystal for her gender reassignment surgery;

1996 -- Three months in a "Tranny hostel” in Inner West Sydney, as Edgar "now Elsie) does a "geographical” to resolve issues about her future;

2000 -- Elsie "with friend) flies to Phuket for a month for her own reassignment surgery; and

2006 -- Elsie visits Perth to attend her father's funeral.

There will be shorter stories as well, but those will be framing and linking segments, whereas each of the ones mentioned above will have the most attention to detail with a distinct outcome and end. The framing device I have in mind is the main character telling these stories to an invalid friend in a nursing home. This allows editorial questions to be asked, and the narrative to started and stopped at any point.

Gender Transition for Innocents

The intent of this graphic novel will be to examine the theory and practice of gender transition, as theorised and proposed by myself and others, but contrasted to actual experience. Topics "though subject to revision) may include:

What has gone before -- Details about gender variant peoples from the past;

Who are You? -- The different ways in which people adopt and express identity;

Naming Names -- A look at how gender variant people have been described;

Queer Stuff -- Various political and critical ideas about gender and sexuality;

Paranoia & Promise -- Looks at the social changes that often happen;

Physical Change -- A catalogue of procedures and possibilities "including references to Orlan and others);

Life after Transition -- What happens after the process is over?; and

Indexes & References.

This will be written/illustrated in a style suitable for the general public rather than for academia.

Both works are envisioned as graphic novels of between 80-120 pages. Internal artwork would be mainly in black and white with rare patches of colour, involving a mixture of drawn, photographed, computer generated and "clip art" images. I have already experimented with these techniques in issues of Hypergraphia and in Queer Stuff  (see enclosed samples). The projected format of Gender Transition for Innocents is also influenced/inspired by Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics: the invisible art² which” explores the definition of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in which these elements have been used”³, but does so entirely within the medium itself

Using the medium to explain itself was Scott McCloud's great idea, but rendering this in a manner that made difficult ideas easier to digest, and in an order that reinforced understanding, was his genius. McCloud posited that there were six distinct steps of layers or steps within the comic medium: surface; craft; structure; idiom; form and idea / purpose.

It is my intent with these two graphics novels to explore all of these, in both a fictional and non-fictional manner. Ultimately each should not only answer the questions asked (or at least make a good effort towards doing so) but do it in such a manner that is insightful and convincing - and that is the challenge of the project. If I can promote understanding and appreciation of both the issues and implications of a life lived differently, and do it in a creative and appealing fashion, then I will have achieved my goal.

Samples

In addition to producing final printed versions of both novels, I also intend to test the reception of both style and content by printing excerpts/samples for small scale distribution and also having web page versions of the same. Both could then be distributed or displayed at events such as This is Not Art⁴ and elsewhere. It will not be enough simply to create a deep personal vision - I need to know that such is understood by the audience I'm aiming for.

Research Project

In addition to the two graphic novels, I propose to write a paper tentatively entitled The Art of the Transformed Self: real and virtual art reflecting gender transition "TAOTS). This paper will research exactly how art and technology has both reflected and influenced gender variant minorities "such as transsexual and transgendered persons) within Western Society. In particular this may focus on emergent technologies and interactive systems such as Second Life(R), a "3-D virtual world created by its Residents”⁵. In such worlds users/players create an "avatar” "3D model of a person) that represents themselves within such a world. They may alter, dress and customise such avatars without regard to real world particulars. This may also investigate movements such as "Trans Humanism" and how such impact ideas about gender, art and species.

Related Work

The proposal is a natural progression and extension from my earlier works which deal with sex and gender, as listed below:

Being Laura

My first drawing of myself as Laura (later used in my A Trans Tarot Deck as the image on the M2F card) was as a cover for a booklet

An artist's book about human gender

This work reused artwork from a children's book You're either one or the other as a basis for an artist's pop-up book on gender. The images and text were later incorporated as a segment of Hypergraphia 3 "see below).

Hypergraphia 3:

This comic was created out of boredom between semesters while studying a Bachelor's of Fine Arts at University of Newcastle. It was intended to explain basic ideas about sex and gender to people who thought that was my only notable characteristic "sample enclosed).

Hypergraphia 4:

This was created for the final unit of my Bachelor's of Fine Art in 2001. It is an allegorical tale concerning a journey by part of my soul through my "soulscape" as led by the goddess Iris/Ma'at. Inspired by Pilgrim's Progress and Dante's Inferno, the entire issue was done as a photo-comic, including a mix of photos, clip-art and other illustrations "sample enclosed). It included segments relating to suicide, reassignment surgery and pivotal events in my past.

Hypergraphia 5:

A direct follow-up to the previous issue and continued the allegorical story. This time, instead of using photos directly, line art and other drawings were collaged with a variety of clip-art, versions of famous paintings and other sources in order to provide the narrative, which expounded both "Pagan” and "SubGenius” viewpoints about the world. Although written and drawn in less than two weeks, it was not published until 2005.

Hypergraphia 6:

This issue made further use of cut & paste techniques for a narrative called Another Bloody 9-11 story, which critiqued ideas about the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001 and its consequences. There are also segments dealing with depression and concepts of identity.

A Trans Tarot Deck

The main project for my Honours in Fine Arts at University of Newcastle between 2005-2006. The concept was to share the experience of Gender Transition by presenting aspects of that as giant poster sized tarot cards.

A total of 24 prints were produced and exhibited at the School of Fine Art Gallery in 2006.

Versus

A collection of 11 digital prints, each a collage of collected, created and found images that that related to my history and life, as overlaid and interwoven with a background of trees. These were shown at the Beyond Pink exhibition at the John Miller Galleries in late 2007.

Planning

To successfully complete the projects listed in this proposal, I will need to schedule my time and effort carefully. I have created an initial schedule as per the table below for work on Real Life Trips "RLT), Gender Transition for Innocents "GTFI), and The Art of the Transformed Self "TAOTS):

Period		Research	Scripting/ Writing	Artwork	Other
Year 1	Semester 1	RLT GTFI	RLT	Develop style
	Semester 2	RLT GTFI	RLT GTFI	Develop style	Samples
Year 2	Semester 1	RLT GTFI TAOTS	GTFI	RLT
	Semester 2	TAOTS	GTFI TAOTS	RLT GTFI	Samples
Year 3	Semester 1	TAOTS	TAOTS	RLT GTFI
	Semester 2		TAOTS	RLT GTFI	Samples
Year 4	Semester 1		TAOTS	GTFI	Proofs
	Semester 2		TAOTS		Examination; Publishing of graphic novels

The following resources will be required for each of the above activities:

Research

Real Life Trips will require visual references for the locations used, such as Perth, Sydney and Phuket. Gender Transition for Innocents may also require visual references, but also reference books on queer, feminist and trans theory; medical and psychological accounts; and biographical and history. The Art of the Transformed Self is going to involve research into gender issues within art history, recent technology and the trans community.

Scripting / Writing

Although Real Life Trips deals with real recorded events I will need to review these in order to create a script with coherent narratives. Proper scripting will also determine which visual resources are needed and which are not. Gender Transition for Innocents will need not only to make academic sense, but be paced and illustrated for general appeal.

Artwork

I intend to use Photoshop, Painter and Paint Shop Pro in the production of artwork for these projects. I have version of all three at home, and will use the Photoshop format to save files in for portability.

1Also known as 'WorldCon', see https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/World_Science_Fiction_Convention.

2Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art "1993, ISBN 0-613-02782-5).

3Wikipedia article [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Comics] 25/05/08

4See http://www.thisisnotart.org/

5Second Life website [http://secondlife.com/whatis/] 25/05/08.

Just looking through this, I can see I have to make a few minor corrections before I submit. However, this time I'm "that close" (falls into corner a gibbering wreck)!

Comments Please!

Comments

[faffinoodle.livejournal.com]

Such a long proposal, and it sounds wonderful.
It sounds very personal too.
I like the idea of the Graphic Novel format, I enjoy going to galleries and interacting with the art. Some of my favourite exhibitions at Watt Space have been books you pick up and enjoy.
I think the B&W with a splash of colour here and there is excellent, it adds so much depth rather than just keeping it to B&W or Colour.
I also like the idea of it being a web comic, you could have a laptop set up at the gallery or something of that nature.

How long will it take for you to complete? Masters is a long time isn't it?
((I would have replied earlier, but I really wanted to take my time and read this)).

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

If I do this part-time, which I think would be a good thing - 4 years.

[faffinoodle.livejournal.com]

Wow that's such a long commitment.
PT prolly is best for something like this, condensing it into 2 years would make me feel rushed. It seems like so much work but very rewarding in the end.
I will come to your graduation :)

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

Great!

Actually, the "acceptance commitment therapy" stuff I've been doing lately has helped a lot.

[aesmael.livejournal.com]

Not much for saying except I am curious to see what comes out when you are done.

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

So am I! :)