Trans*istor Radio: Installation

In its second showing, Trans*istor Radio was reimagined as an installation piece.

When the audience entered the Swiss Cottage Library, a small table with three boxes and some post-it notes on it was waiting for them. Attached to the table was a set of instructions, which read:

Do you know what’s in these boxes?

No. Of course not.

Don’t just look at them and guess – try listening to them.

Take your time.

Once you have listened, write your guess down on a post-it note.

Then, you can turn the boxes over to find the answer.

Do NOT change what you’ve written.

Stick your note on the wall with the others.

The audience did as the instructions asked and stuck their notes on the wall along the stairs leading to the atrium of the library where they found their next set of instructions:

You could never have known what was in those boxes by just looking at them.

You only knew what was inside once you listened to them.

Even then, it may have taken you a few tries to understand what you were hearing.

But, you made the effort.

Madeline stood on the landing of the stairs placing headphones on the heads of the audience members and directing them to keep moving into the atrium. In the middle of the space was a path marked out by barriers created with numerous strands of blue and pink string. As they moved through this area, the audience was told a story through the headphones by a transgender individual who has asked to remain anonymous. The story was told through spoken word poetry and described the individual’s experiences with their identity.

At the end of the path stood a table with a screen showing a video clip from the first performance of Trans*istor Radio, which you can read more about here. This video featured Robbie Burton-Moore, a trans actor from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, speaking about his experience as a trans man, cutting down the barriers created by the string, and inviting the audience to do the same if they felt they had truly listened that day. Next to the video screen were another set of instructions:

The barriers created by the gender binary are starting to break.

We’ve come a long way.

But, there is still a long way to go.

Through empowerment and acceptance of trans* individuals, that distance will be triumphed and the gender binary deconstructed.

If you feel this is a journey you are ready for, use these scissors to cut down a section of the barrier.

One by one, the spectators used the pair of scissors attached to the table to cut down the barrier. One by one, people were moved. One by one, something began to change.

Below is highlight reel from this performance featuring the song “We Exist” by Arcade Fire (Night Drive version).