Beyond the Water's Edge

In Beyond the Water’s Edge, a newly synthesised body awakens within an endless ocean; a reference to the womb, but also a symbol from art history of the unconscious mind. The poreless sheen of the body’s sculpted surface holds a metallic edge; the perfect sterility. Employing computer animation, permits me to construct these fantasies; controlled environments that act as safe spaces in exploring my bodily desires. This is a space in which I hold absolute control over the body; from its wireframe mesh up to the way that the body is lit and framed by the camera. Removed of phallus, the digital body’s masculinity falls redundant; it holds no power here. However, the construction of this physically desirable yet sexually incompetent form falls deeper than a subversion of the typical power structures experienced online. Instead, it extends into rooted feelings of inadequacy, an inability to perform the roles that are expected of our bodies. When our value is measured by exertions of hollowed masculinity, many members of gay male communities, including myself, succumb to a labour of masking their inherent femininity. As the synthesised body quests onwards through the shallow tides, the cleansing waters rise against the flesh. In its search for a fleeting sense of self-acceptance, the body awakens once more and the cycle repeats, infinite. Beyond the Water's Edge is the second part in a trilogy, following by Dreams in Ultraviolet and followed by Eternal Relics. 2017 Single screen audiovisual work 1ch HD video | 1ch sound 2'45'' looped ​ Commissioned for Performing Gender, 2017, BACKLIT