In a more-than-human world, how can we reflect on persistent modes of oppression, especially as they relate to those who are unable to speak for themselves? Is there still artistic potential in calling for queer feminist liberation in a patriarchal society? Or do we need new forms that transcend the creative sphere, into the realm of everyday injustices, and elaborate on a utopic form of sexual emancipation?
Such questions are an apt starting point for an analysis of the first solo exhibition by the Canadian musician and artist Peaches b.
Whose Jizz is This? As part of their burgeoning revolution, the masturbators come to name themselves Fleshies. At the time, the exhibition gained little attention outside of Germany and was primarily covered in newspapers, rather than art criticism publications.
Indeed, Whose Jizz is This? The interdisciplinary nature of the project may also have played a part in why it was not much discussed or assessed critically within the art world. It will analyse the consequences of transferring the approach and content of her sex-positive, electro-punk live concerts into a static, institutional gallery space.
In particular, the present author will argue that by utilising the double masturbator as a central, autonomous agent for liberation, Peaches takes a novel approach to feminist claims for sexual emancipation. However, in so doing, the exhibition eludes a more inclusive, posthumanist longing for the unfixed queer body. Peaches is a symbol of sexual permissiveness and queer feminist sex positivity, who is best understood in the context of the American punk scene. In the s and early s it continued to act as a space for sexual liberation and queer empowerment.
