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Art Performance

Inside Killjoy’s Kastle

Dykey Ghosts, Feminist Monsters, and Other Lesbian Hauntings

edited by Allyson Mitchell & Cait McKinney

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2019
Category
Performance, Women Artists, Art & Politics
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774861571
    Publish Date
    Sep 2019
    List Price
    $40.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774861595
    Publish Date
    Sep 2019
    List Price
    $40.00

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Description

Hundreds of years of ridicule, persecution, erasure, misunderstanding, and institutionalization could put anyone in a bad mood. Killjoy invites you into her kastle for a queer exorcism and celebration of the past.

 

Lesbian feminist histories can have a haunting effect on the present. This book explores the making and experience of Killjoy’s Kastle, an immersive walk-through installation and performance artwork (by Allyson Mitchell and Deirdre Logue) that materializes the frightfully acrimonious past for today. Inspired by Evangelical Christian hell houses, the exhibition has been staged in four cities so far – Toronto, London, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia – inviting visitors to interact with humorous and frightening manifestations of the spirits that haunt feminist and queer history.

 

Whereas traditional hell houses set out to scare and convert, Killjoy’s Kastle cheekily aims to provoke and pervert, giving expression to old and new anxieties and creating a space for critique, affect, and discussion. Inside Killjoy’s Kastle fills this space by exploring the kastle’s theoretical and political legacies in chapters by queer and feminist scholars and in vignettes by artists who participated in the project. The many colourful photos in the book also bring Killjoy’s Kastle to life, offering an important visual context. By taking the kastle as a starting point, the contributors consider the role of lesbian feminist histories and direct-action aesthetics in contemporary communities, particularly the ways in which political artwork can produce new ways of knowing about the past.

About the authors

Allyson Mitchell is a writer, activist, film and video artist, and is also completing her doctorate in Women's Studies.

Allyson Mitchell's profile page

Cait McKinney's profile page