“Essentially I’ve been making Donna Haraway fan art since I started having an art practice,” says Colin Self about the inspiration he draws from the ecofeminist philosopher’s unique use of the word ‘kin,’ through ‘staying with the trouble‘ of our planet and collaborating across species. “But this arrival of this term made sense to me as an anchor that sort of demands an expanded idea of who and what we consider to be family.” Speaking to associate editor Jared Davis about these alternative models for collectivity and queer family on AQNB’s bi-monthly Artist Statement podcast, the artist, composer and choreographer’s thoughts come as a bonus episode of the series, to support this month’s Patreon subscription drive.
Colin first appeared on AQNB’s radar as part of experimental drag collective Chez Deep. Formed in New York in 2012, the group that originally included Hari Nef, Sam Banks, Bailey Stiles, and Alexis Penney, along with Colin, produced a series of performance videos in collaboration with the site back in 2015. Now based in Berlin, Colin has released music on RVNG Intl. and presented performances, as well as workshops for the likes of 3hd Festival, MoMA PS1 and the Getty Center, while being a live and studio collaborator of musician Holly Herndon. Calling in from his home in early June, Colin discussed topics ranging from new notions of family and ecology, and what we can learn from queer elders and the AIDS epidemic in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Siblings & Survival’ is the second in our Artist Statement podcast series, following last week’s conversation between AQNB editor Steph Kretowicz and Katja Novitskova. Future episodes include Lawrence Lek and Joey Holder, among others, with a teaser for Colin’s chat available to listen to above. The full episode is accessible to our subscribers right now on Patreon. Sign up now: www.patreon.com/aqnb
As part of a subscription drive aimed at keeping AQNB (currently volunteer-run and maintained by its dedicated in-house team) alive, the site will be rolling out a number of new incentives to join our Patreon community this month. This includes a regular music and digital art compendium series—building on the success of our previous release even my dreams don’t go outside—and exclusive artist edition merchandise to be announced this week.
AQNB is a trusted editorial platform for artists resisting categorisation and responding to changes brought on by technology and communication, and we’ve built a strong community around us over the years. Our Patreon will be crucial to the site’s survival moving forward. With this new programme of content, we’re gearing toward engaging and working with you—our readers and subscribers—in building a stronger foundation for our scene into the future.
Subscribe to our Patreon to join in the conversation: patreon.com/aqnb**
