GenderFail will also be presenting ongoing work made in response to a protest sign used in the New York Chistopher Street Parade in 1974 , in which a sign displaying the handwritten message “Mother Nature is a Lesbian” inspired a typeface created in response to that act of protest. The font derived from the original sign extends the initial moment of protest by expanding this moment of agency past a singular event. It has become the unofficial font for GenderFail and has been used in various programs and publications.
http://genderfail.space/
MORE ABOUT GENDERFAIL:
Since its inception in 2015, GenderFail has released content by Liz Barr, Jesse Harrod, Maria Tínaut, Anthony Iacono, Paige Hanserd, Ethan Kastner with upcoming works by Pallavi Sen, Roxana Azar and Jordan Loeppky-Kolesnik. GenderFail has presented work at MoMA PS1 (NYC), Ulises Books (Philadelphia), After School Special (Milwaukee) and SEDIMENT (Richmond). Their publications can be found at Printed Matter (NYC), Art Metropole (Toronto), Artbook at MoMA PS1 (NYC), Quimby’s Books (Chicago) and Verbatim Books (San Diego). GenderFail’s extensive library of art books, artist books and zines is available to the public upon request or at scheduled times, and we have been offering free use of Risograph machine printing to queer, trans, and non-binary identifying folks since Fall 2017. It is GenderFail’s mission to use these programs to share whatever resources we can with the communities we inhabit.
Publishing as a Site of Cultural Production: Contemporary Publishing in RVA, January 20th 1pm-3pm
The panel Publishing as a Site for Cultural Production will focus on the multiple uses of “printed matter” through each panelist’s approach to publishing, dissemination, and using the book as a curatorial platform. The panel will include Richmond-based artists Nicole Killian, Lauren Thorson and Nontsikelelo Mutiti. We will discuss the role of collaboration in each panelist ongoing projects including Killian’s publication Issues, Thorson’s project Margin and Mutiti’s independent digital archive Reading Zimbabwe. Each of these works are produced remotely, involving collaborators from across the United States and Abroad.
Nicole Killian's work investigates how the structures of the internet, mobile messaging, and shared online platforms affect contemporary interaction and shape cultural identity from a queer perspective. She is interested in the repetition, looping, and dissemination of content. She thinks about catnip and bird toys, scratching and the depths (or voids) of the desktop folder. Her writing has been published by WOW HUH, The Enemy, Carets + Sticks (now Contemporary Art Review LA), The Theo Westenberger Foundation, and in the third edition of Terry Barrett’s Criticizing Art. A current essay, "The Emotional Potential of Girls Presented on the Internet as Object" will be included by Exempt Works (formerly Penny-ante Editions) in Modern Behaviours as well as essay, "The Transgressive Girl" in the Journal of Feminist Scholarship. She is an Assistant Professor at VCU in graphic design.
http://www.nylondip.com/ • https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/artist/30017
Lauren Thorson is a designer who practices between teaching, studio-single (personal) and Studio-Set (client-based works). She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Graphic Design at Virginia Commonwealth University. Lauren’s practice reflects a set of seemingly disparate concerns: an interest in precision and process on the one hand, juxtaposed by intervening steps and the beauty of chance; a focus on the permanence of printing and building structures, counterposed by the subversion of its material labour. Lauren will be talking about her project Margin, a platform created to initiate a form-centric dialog. Margin is co-produced with Minneapolis based designer Jasio Stefanski.
http://laurenthorson.com/ • http://studio-set.com/margin/
Nontsikelelo Mutiti is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work encompasses fine art, design, and social practice. Nontsikelelo is currently an assistant professor in Department of Graphic Design at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her practice traverses the boundaries of fine art, design and public engagement. Works on paper and those rendered as time based audio visual explorations incorporate the digital through hand rendered techniques, as well as computer aided and photographic processes. She is interested in the form of the book as a time-based medium that implies sequence and engages the viewer on a physical level. Nontsikelelo will be discussing her project Reading Zimbabwe, an independent not-for-profit digital platform committed to discover and celebrate Zimbabwean literature. Reading Zimbabwe is co-produced by NY based writer and editor Tinashe Mushakavanhu.
http://nontsikelelomutiti.com/ • http://readingzimbabwe.com/
GenderFail is a publishing and programming initiative featuring the perspectives of queer and trans people and people of color. The project looks to build up, reinforce and open opportunities for creative projects that focus on printed matter. GenderFail invites artists, writers and activists to create publications, prints and programming to present through the platform. Since its inception in 2015, GenderFail has released content by Liz Barr, Jesse Harrod, Maria Tínaut, Anthony Iacono, Paige Hanserd, Ethan Kastner with upcoming works by Pallavi Sen, Roxana Azar and Jordan Loeppky-Kolesnik.
