Dyke Action Machine!
Dyke Action Machine!orDAM!is apublic artandactivistduo made up of painter andgraphic designerCarrie MoyerandphotographerSue Schaffner. DAM! gained notoriety in the 1990s for using commercial photography styling with lesbian imagery in public art.
History
[edit]Sue Schaffner and Carrie Moyer formed Dyke Action Machine! (DAM!) in 1991 inNew York City.They met when in 1990 working together inQueer Nation,splitting from the group in 1991 because they saw a need for lesbian representation in particular. DAM!'s name was chosen to signal "that lesbians had their own particular set of oppressions and social conditions – separate from gay men – that needed attending to."[1]DAM! specifically targetedlesbophobia,the marginalization of lesbians not only in favor of heterosexuality but also withinLGBTQ+circles, where Schaffner and Moyer saw the male homosexual as privileged.[2]
The duo createdradical feministpublic art,putting images of lesbians into commercialized styles and settings.[3]Between 1991 and 2005,[4]DAM! worked from January to June to create pieces for Pride Week.[5]Together with groups likeGuerilla Girlsand Toxic Titties, DAM! resistedsexismandconsumerism.[2]DAM! has been described as intentionally pluralistic, embracing many identities and issues.[6]
With Schaffner's experience as a commercial photographer and Moyer's work as a designer and painter, the duo captured and created images reminiscent of commercial advertising but delivered messages that raised the profile of lesbians. Much of DAM!'s work were spoofs on popular advertisements using models that were easily-identifiable as lesbians as the main subject in their reverse marketing strategy.[7]DAM! created posters, postcards, matchbooks, and a website displaying their work.[6][5]This material was then placed where ads were typically seen, such asbus stops,telephone booths,and construction site barricades.[3]Giving out the artwork for free was important to DAM!'s message because, as Schaffner described, "lesbians don't have that much stuff that's specifically for them."[5]
DAM!'s method of presenting lesbian activist art in typically commercial landscapes creates an effect described by some as "agit-prop".[8]Schaffner and Moyer remained anonymous for eight years, signing their work only with Dyke Action Machine!.[9]Among their influences for their work wereGran Fury,Barbara Kruger,and Fran Winant.[9][10]The duo is mainly active in the New York City area, although their work has been shown internationally and they make some available to be downloaded and distributed by anyone.[2][11]
The work of Dyke Action Machine! is held at theCooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.[12]It has been included in anthologies and encyclopedias of queer and lesbian art, where their work has been discussed alongside LGBT artist activists Chloe Atkins, Kay Shumack, Marion Moore, Jill Posener, the Australian Word of Mouth Collective.[3][13]In 2000, Schaffner and Moyer won a Creative Capital award for visual arts to createGynadome: A Separate Paradise.[14]
Work
[edit]The GAP campaign (1991)
[edit]DAM!’s first poster project, released in June of 1991, purpose was to expose the lack of lesbian representation in American popular culture.[1][2]These politicized posters were intended to be read as advertisements fitting seamlessly into a commercialized streetscape.[1]The project consisted of 500 posters placed all over the city of New York – on mass transit busses and payphone kiosks – highlighting the fact that for one to “exist” or be visible in mainstream media, one must belong to a recognizable consumer group. The campaign replaced the photos of mostly-unknown celebrities featured in the GAP ads with pictures of obviously queer lesbians.[1][2]The GAP Campaign critiques lesbian invisibility as well as tackling the psychology of advertising.[1]
Do You Love the Dyke in Your Life? (1993)
[edit]In their 1993 poster series, "Do You Love the Dyke in Your Life?", DAM! mimicked Calvin Kelin's underwear campaign feature lesbians in place of Mark Wahlberg.[15]This work was a play on the idealized, muscular male body being replaced by "identifiable lesbians."[15]
Gynadome (2001)
[edit]Gynadome is a work ofcyberfeministseparatism where DAM! imagines a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by super-natural lesbians.[16]Created in 2001, Gynadome was inspired by "sexploitationand action flics "of the 1970s but through a lesbian perspective.[16]
Exhibitions
[edit]- 1993:SILENCE=DEATHMunchner Stadtmuseum,Munich andHygiene-Museum,Dresden,Germany[17]
- 1993:Kunst und AIDSInternational AIDS Conference,Berlin,Germany[17]
- 1994: AmendmentsHallwalls,Buffalo,New York[17]
- 1994:Becoming Visible: The Legacy of StonewallNew York Public Library,New York,New York[17]
- 1995:In a Different LightUniversity Art Museum,Berkeley,California[17]
- 1995:You Are Missing Plenty if You Don't Buy Here: Images of Consumerism in American PhotographyFrances Lehman Loeb Art Center,Vassar College,Poughkeepsie,New York[17]
- 1995:Copy-ArtOldenburg University,Oldenburg,Germany[17]
- 1996:Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary CultureCooper-Hewitt National Design Museum,catalog,Manhattan,New York[17]
- 1996:Gender, FuckedCenter on Contemporary Art,Seattle,Washington[17]
- 1996:PortraitureWhite Columns,New York, New York[17]
- 1996:Counterculture: Alternative Information from the Underground Press to the InternetExit Art/The First World, New York, New York[17]
- 1997:Vraiment: Féminisme et ArtLe Magasin-Centre National D'Art Contemporain de Grenoble, catalog, France[17]
- 1997:Revolution Girl-StyleMessepalast/Museumquartier,catalog,Vienna,Austria[17]
- 1997:PatriotismThe Lab,San Francisco,California[17]
- 1999:Gender Trouble (Unbehagen der Geschlechter)Neuer Aachener Kunstverein,Aachen,Germany[17][18]
- 2000:The Biggest Games in TownKünstlerwerkstatt Lothringer Strasse,Munich,Germany[17]
- 2000:The Color of FriendshipShedhalle,Zürich,Switzerland[17]
- 2002:Straight to Hell: 10 Years of Dyke Action Machine!Yerba Buena Center for the Arts,Berkeley,California; Diverseworks,Houston,Texas[16][17]
- 2002:Queer CommodityMount Saint Vincent UniversityArt Gallery,Halifax,Nova Scotia[17]
- 2003:Ameri©an Dre@m: A SurveyRonald Feldman Fine Arts,New York, New York[17]
- 2003:Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate AgeCBGB's303 Gallery,New York, New York;San Francisco Museum of Modern Art(SFMOMA) Artist Gallery, San Francisco, California[17]
- 2004:Republican Like MeParlour Projects, Brooklyn, New York[17][19]
- 2005:Twofold: Collaborations on CampusRichard L. Nelson Gallery and Fine Arts Collection,University of California,Davis,California[17]
- 2006:When Artists Say WeArtists Space,New York, New York[17]
- 2008:Reclaiming the "F" Word: Posters on International FeminismsCalifornia State University,Northridge,California[17]
- 2008:Break the rules!Mannheimer Kunstverein,Mannheim,Germany[20]
References
[edit]- ^abcdeBurk, Tara Jean-Kelly (2015).Let The Record Show: Mapping Queer Art and Activism in New York City, 1986-1995(PhD dissertation).City University of New York.pp. 167–175.
- ^abcdeRaizada, Kristen (2007-01-01). "An Interview with the Guerrilla Girls, Dyke Action Machine (DAM!), and the Toxic Titties".NWSA Journal.19(1): 39–58.JSTOR4317230.S2CID145443495.
- ^abcSummers, Claude J. (2004).The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts.Cleis Press. p. 256.ISBN9781573441919.
- ^Moyer, Carrie; Pepe, Sheila (2021-09-02)."Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe in Conversation".The Journal of Modern Craft.14(3): 275–279.doi:10.1080/17496772.2021.2024345.ISSN1749-6772.S2CID246445317.
- ^abcMiya-Jervis, Lisa (January 31, 1999)."Dyke Action Machine".Bitch.52(10).ProQuest212024487– via ProQuest.
- ^abLoos, Ted (Dec 22, 1998). "Lesbian Poster Girls: Dyke Action Machine! Founders Sue Schaffner and Carrie Moyer Talk about their Savvy Satires of Commercial Art".The Advocate.No. 775.
- ^Schorr, Collier (1994)."Poster Girls".Artforum International.Retrieved17 December2023.
- ^Blake, Nayland and Lawrence Rinder. "In a Different Light."Exhibition Catalog. University of California, Berkeley Art Museum. January 11 – April 19, 1995.
- ^abHieber, Lutz (2014-11-20).Politisierung der Kunst: Avantgarde und US-Kunstwelt(in German). Springer-Verlag.ISBN9783658020156.
- ^Rando, Flavia (1996-01-01). "Reflections on a Name: We're Here: Gay and Lesbian Presence in Art and Art History".Art Journal.55(4): 8–10.doi:10.2307/777647.JSTOR777647.
- ^Fox, Katrina (August 14, 2010)."Agitprop artist: Carrie Moyer".The Scavenger.Archived from the original on August 6, 2016.Retrieved2016-07-04.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^Lupton, Ellen; Museum, Cooper-Hewitt (1996-09-01).Mixing Messages.Princeton Architectural Press.ISBN9781568980997.
- ^Hammond, Harmony (2000).Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History.Random House Incorporated.ISBN9780847822485.
- ^"Project – Gynadome: A Separate Paradise".Creative Capital – Investing in Artists who Shape the Future.Retrieved2020-12-10.
- ^abPuelo, Risa (2015). "New Territories of Queer Separatism".Art Papers Magazine.pp. 46–49.
- ^abcDyke Action Machine; Moyer, Carrie; Schaffner, Sue; Atkins, Robert; Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena Gardens (2002-01-01).Straight to hell: 10 years of Dyke Action Machine!: May 4 – July 14, 2002.Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.ISBN0971971102.OCLC50209391.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy"Bibliography".www.dykeactionmachine.com.Retrieved2020-12-10.
- ^Neuer Aachener Kunstverein."Unbehagen".www.neueraachenerkunstverein.de.Retrieved2016-06-30.
- ^"Carrie Moyer | Exhibitions".Carrie Moyer.Retrieved2020-12-10.
- ^Break the rules!: Sammlungen Hieber/Theising, 6.1.-3.2.2008, Mannheimer Kunstverein(in German). Mannheim: Mannheimer Kunstverein. 2008-01-01.OCLC298777058.
External links
[edit]- Dyke Action Machine! website
- Tang Skidmore Museum Collection of Dyke Action Machine!
- Dyke Action Machine! INCORPORATED 2008 Stewardship Report
- 1998 Dyke Action Machine Interview N3TV
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