“I Died 1000 Meters Away” is a memorial installation that delves into themes of distance, identity, and the hidden journeys of queer and trans lives. The work disrupts conventional narratives of burial and remembrance, embodying the struggle for recognition that endures beyond death.
The self-portrait, encased in bondage, mirrors the intricate art of shibari throughout the space, evoking a tension between visibility and silence, autonomy and restraint. This act of self-bondage becomes a broader reflection on how queer and trans identities are often constrained by external forces and imposed narratives, yet a testament to the enduring act of self-definition. Emerging from these bindings, traces of memory woven like silent witnesses through the installation. These marks speak of lives often overlooked, identities disregarded, and stories that resist the quiet obliteration of time. They are fragments suspended in tension, demanding recognition, cast in gold as an act of preservation, an assertion that what has been neglected must be seen.
“I Died 1000 Meters Away” stands as a testament to resilience, posing questions about; How does one remain visible within structures that insist on their disappearance? Can a body bound by external narratives still shape its own story? What does it mean to remember, to hold space for those whose truths have been buried? Could remembrance be an active practice of safeguarding truth against erasure?
Supported and funded by TheatreWorks (Singapore) as part of the film βHouse of Janusβ and Art-Lab Berlin at iPhonedoctor
Medium: Installation and sculpture
Materials: Ropes, gold leaves, feathers, and gypsum
Size: 300 x 200 x 180 cm (multiple)
Year: 2024
michael(a) Daoud 