Invisibility Cloak (Prototype 1)

2016, 20:00 minutes

In Autumn 2016, I worked at the Saari Residency on a project responding to the problem of bisexual invisibility by constructing prototypes for an “Invisibility Cloak” modelled after the ghillie suit, queering its intended camouflage function by using high-visibility materials.

A live demonstration was presented at Hej Hej PALS! Festival.

I stand under a spotlight with my back facing the audience, naked except for a cloak made from reflective mylar strips and a pair of silver-coloured stilettoes. The mylar strips rise and fall with my breath, crinkling faintly. Around the edge of the spotlight are several objects: two sheets of mylar, a white tarp, a blue tarp and large ring covered with mylar strips. On the white tarp are several smaller objects: an LED bike light, a can of hairspray, a can of shaving cream and a neon green plastic bag. I pick up one mylar sheet by its centre, walk around it in a circle, then lower it to the ground where it comes to rest in a cone shape. I cross the spotlight to the other mylar sheet and swing it over my head several times before setting it down in another cone shape. I leave my stilettos on the blue tarp and the garment on the floor next to it. I stand on the white tarp, holding the green bag. I pull out a strip of mylar and toss it to the floor, repeating until the bag is empty. I take the hairspray and spray it in my hair excessively, then over my entire body as I roll over the mylar strips on the floor, which stick to me. I put the ring of mylar strips around my neck. I pick up the white tarp, revealing that the centre has been cut out in a circle, which stays in place on the floor, leaving the tarp with a hole in the middle. I drape it over a mylar sheet so that the cone pokes up through the hole. I repeat this action with the blue tarp. I turn on the bike light and place it, blinking, inside the left stiletto. I wear the right stiletto and put the can of shaving cream next to the left one. Using the heel of my stiletto, I press the button on the can. Shaving cream shoots out, filling the left stiletto, until the can is empty.

Hej Hej PALS!
Fylkingen
Stockholm, Sweden
15 October, 2016