PLAY House, 2021

The following is an abstract for my MFA Thesis, PLAY House: The Art of Finding Queer Pleasure in (Private & Public) FUN + PLAY. Full thesis can be found here: https://vincentchorabik.com/play-house-mfa-thesis

Utilizing a TRANSdisciplinary and iterative process, with a focus on collage and installation, I investigate identity & private space in relationship to the public spaces of the art gallery & internet. My thesis project, PLAY House, comprises three installation works that occupy, whether physically or digitally, the same three-walled room. Holliday Home (Glitch of the Heart) (2020), MySpace.jpg (2020), and PLAY Room (2021) were all created during the Covid-19 pandemic and explore intimacy, collaboration, isolation, and self-reflection with a focus on transforming a public space. These installations act as self-portraits that aim to invite the viewer into a private space as a means of creating understanding and connection between the artist and the participant.

As my work is autobiographical, my positionality as a Canadian Queer Disabled ‘90s Kid is key to unpacking my methodology of FUN(ny) + PLAY(sure/ful) art, terms I’ve invented for the purpose of this thesis. While both FUN + PLAY evoke child-like pleasure, FUN(ny) is one’s experience with pleasure, and is a synonym for something humorous, while PLAY(sure/ful) is the thing that activates one’s experience with pleasure and a synonym for sexuality. Ideally, FUN + PLAY activate Queer Pleasure (Pride & Joy), which decreases Queer Pain (Shame, Anxiety, and Depression). FUN + PLAY are essential to our survival, culture, learning and innovation (Raph Koster, Johan Huizinga, Adrienne Maree Brown). Queerness & Disability drive me to engage in FUN + PLAY and dictate my choice of a Colourful, Campy, Maximalist, Deskilled or “BAD”, Dada, POP Art aesthetic. This hybridized aesthetic is funnelled into my research on private space as self-portraiture & its relationship to the public art world (drawing inspiration from artists like: Vincent van Gogh, Robert Rauschenberg, Tracy Emin, and Erica Stocking). Through my research & practice I conclude that Queer Pleasure & FUN + PLAY are essential in how we connect to ourselves and others in an uplifting way that is generative for learning, creativity, self-love, and community building.

I am eager to continue exploring & generating Queer Pleasure with Art, Writing, Academia, & Life!

I’m most active on Instagram @vincent.chorabik

And, my professional portfolio is here: www.vincentchorabik.com