When considering points in a lifecycle of Goldendean there are many beginnings, but I imagine they exist in potentia on the mine-dumps of Joburg, eGoli – the city of gold.
– Goldendean
Artist Goldendean’s narrative powers itself from the same set of key methodologies that has become inseparable from themselves as a humxn being as well as their practice. Queer Love; Queer Dissidence; Radical Sharing (Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi) and the undoing of the white identity, which is discussed in detail in ‘Goldendean – Queer love, Queer dissidence and the undoing of whiteness’. PLAN B A GATHERING OF STRANGERS (OR) THIS IS NOT WORKING, self-described by the artist as a handbook to themselves, is a dissertation completed towards a Master in Fine Arts degree at Michaelis and acts as a rationale of the artist’s dense theoretical and political expression. The text carries throughout a personal tone due to its autobiographical expression, giving its reader insight into their thought processes and action.
Plan B reflects on the affects of their performance of simple acts of dissidence in a transgressive Fat Queer White Trans Body. The book is an exploration of strategies of Technology as self-reflection, Radical Sharing, Queer Love and Queer Disobedience and how they feed into »making whiteness strange«; placing the normal visibility of whiteness in vertigo and bringing white bodies under surveillance. A collaboration with BayFinK the volume addresses complex themes. These include a review of key texts relating to love, queer theory and whiteness; the performance of whiteness and documenting or archiving reactions online to their performances as Goldendean–a form of narrative.
THE BIRTH OF GOLDENDEAN sheds light onto how their body became their performance expression. The body becomes of much prevalence throughout the work as we are made aware of how readings of their body have the capability to make them a monster.
“Being seen naked is not without considerable anxiety for me. My body had always been a site of shame. They explain that growing up their body was regarded a threat in their family resulting in experiences of body dysmorphia.
In Theirstory we are brought into the narrative of their family, their past and their pains. We are told about a horrific accident they went through that altered their body. Through the personal deliberations and painful reflections presented here; the cast out status that they received from an early age; the failings of love that they have experienced throughout their childhood, the person they have become and the artist they are today is personified. Goldendean did not become a healer despite their traumatic childhood and the transphobia that they have been subjected to but because of it. Theirstory is a powerful insert that in essence becomes an explanation for the theoretical basis of their work. Here we begin to understand how their rejection of whiteness was born as well as their choice to use their body and the personality of Goldendean to evoke their message.
The book is a handbook for all who have a desire to understand the encasement of the white identity, for those who want to destroy the white identity, for those who love performance art, crave safe spaces, believe in community healing and enjoy personal reflections in an academic text. An extremely personal work; this is Goldendean and Dean Hutton presented in a bound format.
