private view traces lineages of artistic practices in the fields of institutional critique, relational aesthetics, and social practice.

It is a comment on the the modes of production, distribution, and consumption of art as media in the institutions of the digital age, as well as the objectification, control, and fetishisation of (trans)women’s bodies in art history.

In order to view the artwork, I will ask viewers in a performance why I should trust them to see the illuminated, semi-nude screen print. If I deem them trustworthy through a series of questions, I will ask them to take part in what I call the exchange: leaving me with their unlocked phone while they are given the key to ‘turn on’ the image.

Upon return of the key, I will give them back their phone, and switch off the image. The artist and participant will be exchanging glimpses into their respective private lives, while also ensuring that the viewer has no possible way of reproducing the image.

Therefore, the artwork will only be visible when the key is turned to on. This is the element which necessitates the viewer’s participation and allows a critical refusal to happen.