DIY: 2017 – Gareth Cutter & Paul Hughes: Men From Behind

A creative enema of filthy writing, subversive image making and public interventions via the back door

Project summary

Join us for a weekend sleepover in Folkestone where artists of all genders and sexualities will consider opening up the male body, placing this obscene figure in public, and de-gendering the penetrative act.

In The Penetrated Male, author Jonathan Kemp argues “male subjectivity is only intelligible – paradoxically – through a penetrability it cannot subsequently concede, but must actively avoid if it is to retain its masculine status.”

Associated with (but not restricted to) anal sex, man’s fear of penetration – deemed passive and feminine – has sealed his body off, made his other orifices (eyes, ears, mouth) potentially treacherous, and constipated the flow of private experiences into the open. Underpinning this fear is a gendered binary which dictates what kind of behaviour is acceptable and expected of him, and of others.

So, how can combinations of writing, visual and performance practices dissolve these binaries, stimulate the flow of male subjectivity, and sneak the results under the radar of public decency? Come and find out as we approach men from behind.

How to apply

Via the link below, applicants are invited to complete short statements about their practice, what they expect to bring and take away from the DIY, and a time they have been penetrated or taken a passive position in some way.

While primarily concerned with the penetrated male, the workshop is open to participants from a broad range of gender identities and backgrounds in order to create a rich and varied discourse on the topic, and how it affects us all. To consider the penetrated male body in situ, we need to select a few who self-identify as male, but everyone is welcome to apply.

The workshop is ideal for early to mid-career artists in disciplines encompassing performance (across the realms of live art, body art, dance, theatre etc), writing and visual arts, who are both open to cross-disciplinary approaches and comfortable with pushing their personal and artistic boundaries in relation to penetrability. Participants will be supported in negotiating consent in undertaking acts that encounter their own and another person’s body/self throughout the workshop, but ought to be confident in regards to their own agency.

A small bursary pot is available to help support travel expenses for the weekend in Folkestone for those who could otherwise not attend. Rough and ready overnight accommodation can be provided at ]performance s p a c e[.

The deadline for applications is Mon 19 June at 12noon.

Dates, time and location

Dates: 11-13 Aug 2017
Times: 7pm start on Fri, followed by 2 full workshop days, and departure Sun evening
Location: Folkestone

The artists

Gareth Cutter is a London-based artist whose works span writing, Live Art, theatre and music. Recent credits include Beta Public and Tender Loin (2017), SPILL Festival of Performance National Platform (2016), ‘Queer at Queen’s’ Outburst Festival (2016 & 2015), and Haphazard (2015).

Paul Hughes is a Nottingham-based artist working across choreographic, visual and performance art contexts. Recent credits include work at Rich Mix, Forest Fringe and Battersea Arts Centre, and performing for artists including Vlatka Horvat, Chris Goode’s ‘Ponyboy Curtis’, and Simon, Colin and I.

If you have questions about this project, please contact Gareth.

This DIY is supported by ]performance s p a c e[ as part of DIY Gateway, supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation.