Project Description

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, Love’s Frontier, 1918 looks at intimate relationships between men at the end of World War I. This work’s underlying proposition is that the carnage experienced during the Great War had transformative impact on the men of that period and created an existential context that questioned much of what was presumed as essential to previous notions of masculinity. Given the fact that 8,410,000 French men were enlisted over the course of the war and the fact that, unlike elsewhere in Europe, homosexuality was legal under French law, it can be assumed that there were significant numbers of loving, sexual relationships that were forged at the frontier. Research for this project will explore the extent to which that proposition is supported by artifacts and other evidence of intimate same sex relationship that developed in the arenas of war.

With planned presentations in the autumn of 2018, initial concepts propose that Love’s Frontier, 1918 will take place after dark in the colonnades, planted gardens, seating areas and allees of the Palais Royal, an environment that had a long history as the site of transgressive sexual behavior. Dimly lit by a variety of LED illuminated objects, lamps and costume accessories, an environment will be created for movement-based interactions that will take place in repeated sequences. Partnered and romantic, these movements will clearly underscore the intimacy of the relationships among the soldiers/actors. Disabled as well as able bodied individuals will be sought as performers. Prostheses and assistive devices will become key factors in the “choreography” of this piece. Performing a score that is based on musical traditions that were popular in 1918, live musician will be positioned throughout the gardens of Palais Royal.

In addition to unearthing a little known history of same sex desire, Love’s Frontier, 1918 will seek to illuminate the realities of love born in the context of combat over the past century. Costuming will be a mix of uniforms from WW1 as well as those from other wars that followed including current international soldiers uniforms. At that center of three seating areas, around the sculptures bases, texts from letters between wartime lovers across the century will be shown on LED screens. These letters, as well as participants in the various aspects of the performance will be directly solicited through newsletters of Paris based LGBTQ organizations as well as social media. While it is assumed that the majority of participants in this project will be cisgender males, Love’s Frontier, 1918 hopes to include a wide range of narrative content expressing non-conforming sexual desire.

Through the use of QR codes, viewers of Love's Frontier, 1918 will be able to explore aspects of the work being performed in greater depth through the app that has been established for all of the component parts of This Dancerie.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Food for Thought: One Story

as long as we love each other, what’s it to do with other people?

gerald-phil-gay-vintage1
I only met one other homosexual in the army. That was in Le Havre in 1917. We was on the boat coming home. I don’t know how these things work, whether it’s through conversation, or whether it’s the attitude of the individual concerned, but we seemed to come together, see. All of a sudden his arm was round my neck and this, that and the other, and then, of course, one thing led to another. And that was Phil, my affair that I had for seven years. When I come out of the army we stuck together. I was living at the time in Ilford. I rejoined the army in 1920, then I went out to Germany. I was living with Phil at the time and I saw him when I came home on leave and we kept a flat together. I was in the army because the army was my life at that period. He was somebody just like a wife to come home to…
… I don’t think our friends or family knew, yet they had a very good suspicion. Phil and I often talked about it, only he said, well, he says, as long as we love each other, what’s it to do with other people? And that was the true situation.
Text: First person account as told by Gerald, born 1892, Norfolk, England.  Excerpted from Between the Acts: Lives of Homosexual Men 1885-1967, Jeffrey Weeks and Kevin Porter (eds)
Image: Unknown, via Bloomfield and George/Flickr
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