Appropriated Gender
Installation Dimensions variable IT’S A TRAP! A phallocentric installation created in response to Curator Lisa Rockford’s call for entries for Gallery 1310’s (Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA) Appropriated Gender exhibition. The work consists of more than a 100 plastic penises set as bait in spring-loaded traps. Is the implication that even the subject of gender identity is a dangerous trap? The title, “It’s a trap”, references the internet meme based on Admiral Akbar’s expression upon realizing he is being ambushed while attacking the Death Star in Star Wars, Return of the Jedi. The meme is that a picture of a woman with the tagline, “It’s a Trap!”, implies she’s a transsexual or cross-dresser i.e. the trap is she has a penis. The work could be interpreted as a warning, or opposingly, a statement referencing the exuberance of pushing gender boundaries and living dangerously. “Fantastic subversion of the minimalist grid (controlled by men).” – Alpeshk Patel