Party Of Immortals

Author

Hyazinth S. Baumann, Bard CollegeFollow

Date of Submission

Spring 2022

Academic Program

Studio Arts; Written Arts

Project Advisor 1

Samantha Vernon

Project Advisor 2

Jennifer Offil

Abstract/Artist's Statement

I am the cook of a queer kitchen for characters. Who wants to come out? Where’s the seasoning? So far I’ve had a nonbinary Hebrew angel, a trans Dionysus, a drag dragon, and an agender winter spirit inhabit my physical form. Each mythic persona is meant to serve a new dish on the table. Lailah externalizes her/my spiritual awakening. Dionysus realizes his/my ideals of re-normalizing nudity. Darastrix serves in reaction to the history of womanhood and investigates the strange and magical beginnings of her/my childhood. Perchta practices durational performance and processes its/my Austrian heritage.

Zines are self-produced, self-published bodies of work meant to be shared, given, sold, mailed, bought, traded, etc. They often serve in queer and punk community as a counter culture to a rigid publishing industry. Zines could be produced anywhere, with home or office printers, with collage and found images, and be handed out anywhere, in a coffee shop or a performance venue. These zines I have created are meant to bridge a gap between individualistic literature and the collective interdisciplinary mnemonic tradition of passing on stories. A book is (mostly) written and published once, zines are reprinted and rewritten, and mnemonic stories change and transition forever. My zines serve a kind of poetic function that focuses on a message while straying from the usual linearity of literature.

Both these zines and my character’s performances serve as an invitation to myself and others to be free in the creative process. My goal is to lean further towards a sense of collective creative work in this ongoing series. I invite anyone inspired to create their own interpretations of Lailah, Dionysus, Darastrix and Perchta, whether in their mind, or in painting, collage, performance, narration, poetry, or any form of creativity. Would you join my queer kitchen?

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Baumann, Hyazinth S., "Party Of Immortals" (2022). Senior Projects Spring 2022. 337.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2022/337