Failure in "Truth"

2015 ©

Failure in "Truth" attempts to break down the construction of boyhood in popular culture using the lens of the 1940 film Pinocchio. I am reading Pinocchio as a trans narrative with room for queerness and failure. Masculinity as an unstable category at best. In his text Sons of the Movement: FtMs Risking Incoherence on a Post-queer Cultural Landscape, Bobby Noble writes, "Masculinity and the male body are not reducible to each other." Throughout the film Pinocchio declares that he wants to become a "real boy" /boi /boyz. But in order to become a real boy he must always tell the truth. When he fails to tell his nose grows in length. As a transgender queer person I have been accused of lying about my gender even when I am telling the truth, many times I have forced to out myself or admit to being someone I am not. Failure in "Truth" is a comically tiny contribution to the studies of masculinities and men.

Failure in "Truth" is a performance for video that has been installed in a tiny wooden box measuring 8' x 6' x 2' with a small hole in the side of the box for viewing. The video projection is 1.5' x 1.5' inside the box.
a tiny wooden box measuring 8' x 6' x 2' with a small hole in the side of the box for viewing. The video projection is 1.5' x 1.5' inside the box.
A tiny wooden box measuring 8' x 6' x 2' with a small hole in the side of the box for viewing. The video projection is 1.5' x 1.5' inside the box.  A side view with an hole cut out of the side. Inside the box there is a small projection of the video failure in truth.  
A screenshot of the artist as Pinocchio. They are in a Pinocchio costume with puppet strings and white gloves. The majority of the image in black and in the center of the image is a small peep hole where the image appears.
A tiny wooden box measuring 8' x 6' x 2' with a small hole in the side of the box for viewing. The video projection is 1.5' x 1.5' inside the box.  A side view with an hole cut out of the side. Inside the box there is a small projection of the video failure in truth. This image is of the artist as Pinocchio sitting on a huge wooden log that has been painted red. 
A screenshot of the artist as Pinocchio. They are in a Pinocchio costume with puppet strings and white gloves. The majority of the image in black and in the center of the image is a small peep hole where the image appears. The image is of the artist sitting on a huge red log. It is a close up of the side of the red log and the leg of the artist.
A tiny wooden box measuring 8' x 6' x 2' with a small hole in the side of the box for viewing. The video projection is 1.5' x 1.5' inside the box.  A side view with an hole cut out of the side. Inside the box there is a small projection of the video failure in truth. The artist is sitting on a large painted yellow log; only the bottom half of their body is in the image. 
A screenshot of the artist as Pinocchio. They are in a Pinocchio costume with puppet strings and white gloves. The majority of the image in black and in the center of the image is a small peep hole where the image appears.The artist is sitting on a large painted yellow log; only the bottom half of their body is in the image. 
A close up of the hole in the box. The image inside is of a red theater curtain being lifted up. The background is a black and the image appears in the middle. 
This image is a grid of images four by four. The grid shows stills from the video failure in truth at various stages. Sarah is dressed as Pinocchio and appears in multiple images, with hands underneath their chin, sitting on a large log and using an ax to try to chop it, Holding a small log like a baby, sleeping and hands with puppet strings.
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