Tatsache (2017), single channel video loop, stereo sound, 4:24min

Ttitled after a German phrase that roughly translates to English as “matter of fact”, Tatsache is a devotional poem that calls into question totalising systems of knowledge. Bordering on being a video artwork, a song, a dance and a music video, its medium is not singularly categorical.

Lyrically, the artwork denies easy comprehension; the repeated phrase “this body is not real, this body is not fake” presents a paradox without resolution. This phrase contemplates the contradiction of trans embodiment as being internally felt and known, whilst being frequently legally and culturally framed as illegitimate.

Exhibition history:
National Gallery of Victoria, 'Archie Barry and Paul Maheke', Nov 2019 - April 2020.
Artspace Sydney, 'The Public Body .03', Aug - Oct 2018.
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 'Unfinished Business', Nov 2017 - March 2018.