Trans, Media and [In]Visibility

The postmedia emphasis of “Message over Medium” parallels the trans desire for identity or the self to transcend (or transgress) the delineations of the body. For recent generations, there is little to no difference between life lived online and “IRL.” For a generation of artists who have been raised using computers, there is little difference between exhibiting work on a website or exhibiting work in a gallery; as per the much-used term, they are digital natives . The lived, autobiographical narratives that we create have been irrevocably altered by the ubiquitous technologies that have become cyborg extensions of our selves. The very concept of being transgender is transgressive of traditionally accepted, Western gender norms. Although every trans person deserves agency of creation and control over their own narratives generally speaking, trans selves frequently have multiple real or online identities, or a digital identity that is contrary to their socially lived role. Hence, there is often a comfortability or familiarity with slipping in between visibility and invisibility. The self can be multiple, mutable, dynamic, undefined or ambiguous, and can be successive in the manner of serial narratives. Personal exposure – visibility – to a great extent is by choice. The interpretation of such a narrative or message, or set of image-signs, also quite often relies upon understanding or recognition of simultaneous multiple contexts, and these particular attributes of the self and cultural production in a postmedia environment are exactly the reason why trans rights and awareness have exploded into the social dialogue at a speed greater than any previous civil rights issue. Trans identities have not become part of contemporary culture; rather, contemporary culture has become transgender .