DISCOrd #2, 3, 4: Velvet Ropes, Bent Shine, Handcuffs
My newest body of work follows an eight-year exploration I call DISCOurse. That series manipulates the glitz-and-glam aesthetic of early queer disco, reimagining its distinctly occupied space as a rehearsal for inclusion.
Enter the velvet rope—velvet, a literal materialization of posh. Beyond its function in crowd control and spatial division, the velvet rope signals status, gatekeeping, and enforced exclusion. Glamour is witnessed behind a barrier. The disco—dreamland of marginal belonging—mutates into spectacle and status. Diversity becomes curated and glamourized, epitomized by Studio 54’s infamous door policies in 1980s New York.
Another emblem of restraint—less posh, more punitive—is the zip-tie handcuff. From ICE raids to January 6, the zip tie has become shorthand for extra-legal control: cheap, brutal, and efficient. The “zip tie guy” entering the Senate chamber haunts this work as much as the Studio 54 doorman.
With these materials, I make two bodies of work—a third using stainless steel zip ties—simultaneous and contingent. (See complete Statement)
Velvet Power Supply
Portal 1
Velvet Curtain 1
Sigil 3 (restrained)
Sigil 2 (restrained)
Sigil 1
DISCOrd: Bent Shine-Zip Tied
Studio