Urgency & Oppression in AHNONI's "Miracle Now"

From May 24th through August 5th, 2018, English musician/visual artist ANOHNI has an exhibition on display at the Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center in the heart of Copenhagen. The exhibit, entitled “Miracle Now,” features mixed media across the two stories of the building and largely interacts with drag queen culture in mid-20^th century New York City. ANOHNI, as a transgender woman who performs in drag and lives in New York, has a very deep-rooted and personal understanding of these issues.

Image 1: Exhibition cover art

The first-floor exhibit starts in a white-walled room that features several framed newspaper articles and government forms on all sides of the room. The articles cover a wide range of topics such as global warming, the melting solar icecap, the AIDS crisis, and famous drag queens Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson. The pieces on the walls create a conversation, as each article reflects or expands on an aspect of another article. Through this careful curation of related events and stories, Anohni’s voice emerges effectively as a discussion guide.

In contrast to this naturally-lit bright room, there is a dark curtain on the left wall that leads to another part of the exhibit. The haunting music played loudly through speakers in the dark room acts as a soundtrack for that space, as well as a muffled soundtrack for the brighter room.

The dark space is instantly captivating, as the only light sources are nine projectors that play short video loops of drag queens—with the exception of one image of a fetus on the back wall. Each loop does not have its own unique sound: they are all accompanied by the same haunting soundtrack. In the low frequency range, there is a consistent wind-like flow of sound that gives the music more dimensionality. In the mid-high frequency range, notes are played in a sort of raindrop fashion seemingly with no pattern (and yet none of the notes clash). Although the music was slow and each loop captured only a drag queen’s facial expression or a few gestures, there was a real sense of urgency and emotional distress in the space.

Image 2: Drag queen wrapped in plastic and covered in blood

The first projection is a drag queen on stage, wrapped in plastic and covered in blood (Image 2). She squirmed under the spotlight as audience members screamed, though it is unclear whether they were supportive or unsupportive shouts. This also seems to be the only projection that comes with a bit of its own sound. Other projections feature queens mouthing a few words and staring off into the distance; performing on stage; and a face with a plaster-like mask on it. Although the drag queens were all done-up in their performance-wear, the empty expressions and looped motion, coupled with the eerie soundtrack, made for a very unglamorous depiction of a drag queen’s life. The looping also gave the impression that each iteration was different–that somehow, the queens looked a little more tired and detached with each repetition.

This is symbolic of the oppression that drag queens faced and still face today, and how mere gestures or words constantly generate judgement and often aggressive responses from others. Showing the inner turmoil and emotional trauma that occurs for the drag community was very powerful, as they are typically thought of as quite exuberant and bold. As I immersed myself deeper into this space, the sense of urgency increased as I felt trapped in this dark and unrestful room. I reached a point at which I simply had to exit because I grew very anxious and it became difficult to breathe. After leaving, I heard short speaking excerpts being played in the room but couldn’t make out exact words as it was muffled through the curtains. Even that act of sudden fear and running away made me feel like I was the oppressor–that I had left the drag queens without a voice, and that I only chose to hear their voices in muffled fashion.

            AHNONI successfully curated a space for drag queens to be seen and heard both clearly and indistinctly. The emotional weight each room carried was palpable, and each room provoked a lot of contemplation surrounding oppression and progress since the mid-20^th century, or lack thereof. However, a multiple-story exhibit by a transgender artist representing the voices of an oppressed community is a hopeful leap forward.