This series of prints explores abstracted “portraits” juxtaposed with still life Vanitas; the symbolic representation of the transience of life, and the futility of worldly pleasures. This project began as an excavation and appropriation of police surveillance footage filmed during a 1960s sting operation to arrest gay men during the summer of 1962 in Mansfield, Ohio. The police filmed men having sex in a public restroom. A cameraman hid in a closet and watched the clandestine activities through a two-way mirror. First, it’s just pissing and shitting, hand-washing and checking their hair in the mirror. But before long, the footage shows various men, mostly middle-aged or older, many straight, even married with children, black and white. The film is a perfect example of Foucault’s panopticon, in which behavior is enforced through the threat of surveillance. These films served as evidence of their desires, and led to over thirty convictions and prison.
1. Jones, William E. Tearoom, 2nd Cannons Publications, 2008.
2. Sicinski, Michael. Tearoom, Academic Hack, 2007.
