The Art of Queer Support in 2020
This year has shown many of us the importance of community-building, but for queer artists it isn’t just about mirroring an existing public sphere
In June 2020, London’s Cell Project Space posted hundreds of fluorescent-yellow envelopes to addresses in the UK and abroad. Each contained a photocopy of a handwritten letter that described the feeling of being drenched by ‘the waterfall of the world’, plus a vial housing a scent recalling the smell of sweat, mould and damp. For recipients outside the UK, the vial had been removed by the fictitious ‘International Customs and Border Protection’, but droplets remained, leaking onto a slip saying ‘OBJECT REMOVED’, subtly subverting the ‘system that may have otherwise prevented its safe journey’, as curator Eliel Jones observed.