On Art for Intervention

The second program of our 2023 WF Online Series highlighted the work of the Basel platform Art of Intervention (AOI). Art of Intervention (AOI) was founded by Dominique Grisard, who is affiliated with the University of Basel's Center for Gender Studies and the Swiss Center for Social Research, and Andrea Zimmermann, from the University of Basel's Center for Gender Studies. This platform serves as a catalyst for exploration, understanding, criticism, discussion, publication, and transformation at the intersection of gender studies, queer-feminist theory and academia. 

AOI aims to drive impactful change and create a space for interdisciplinary dialogue. Through research, teaching, and events, AOI encourages critical examination of pressing issues. It provides a platform for scholars, artists, and change-makers to publish their work, share insights, and engage in discussions that challenge conventional boundaries and inspire alternative approaches. Dominique’s and Andrea's vision for AOI is rooted in the belief that transformation can be achieved through active engagement and the integration of multiple perspectives. By actively seeking out new ideas, encouraging open dialogue, and nurturing collaborative relationships they strive to foster a community dedicated to effecting positive change in society.

Since its inception in 2018, AOI has fostered collaborations with cultural institutions such as Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, Kaserne Basel, Theater Basel, Literaturhaus Basel, BuchBasel, and Theater Niemandsland. To further extend the reach and impact of AOI, the platform maintains an active online presence through its blog, theartofintervention.blog.

Introductory Film Program Text

For this film program, AOI extended an invitation to their long-time collaborator, Roan Ezra Schmid, for this carte blanche in collaboration with White Frame. They have curated a selection of films that delve into the politics and practices of trans experiences. Here is AOI introductory text for the film program.

For additional information about the program, we invite you to tune in to our audio interview featuring Dominique, Andrea, and Roan.

The film program

Don't Look into the Sun
by Raphael Reichert
Switzerland, 2020, 12 mins 10, English

Don‘t look into the Sun consists of an interview with Indian-born actress and trans gender activist Living Smile Vidya, who is currently in the asylum process. This interview is combined with more than a hundred recordings of the sun, filmed with a smartphone over the time span of several weeks during the first Corona lockdown.

My Boyfriend, Coyote / My Girlfriend, Bambi 
by Coyote Park
USA, 2022, 21 mins, English

My boyfriend Coyote, my girlfriend Bambi is an experimental short that documents Park’s journey through a series of camcorder footage. The audio is a conversation between themself, documenting the love that they have found through a journey of shapeshifting. Bambi, a character/persona/extension of Park, that they find understandings of the way that their connection of loving others as a trans person begins with themself.

Housewives Making Drugs
by Mary Maggic
USA, 2017, 10 mins 12, English

What if it were possible to synthesize hormones in the kitchen? Imagine if this was as easy and simple as cooking a meal. “Housewives Making Drugs” is a fictional cooking show where the trans-femme stars, Maria and Maria teach the audience at home step-by-step how to cook their own hormones. They perform a simple “urine-hormone extraction recipe” while amusing the audience with their witty back-and-forth banter about body and gender politics, institutional access to hormones, and everything problematic with heteronormativity. Choosing the kitchen as the appropriate battleground for tackling body/gender politics and institutional access, the cooking show aims to challenge/subvert patriarchal society and speculate on a world with greater body sovereignty for all.

The Prince of Homburg
by P. Staff
USA, 2019, 23 mins, English

P. Staff’s vibrant, colour-coded video uses text from Heinrich von Kleist’s 19th-century play of the same name to explore themes of persecution and punishment to meditate upon contemporary issues of gender, queer resistance, and the carceral state. Through an unconventional narrative structure, Staff’s video cuts together a narration of Kleist’s play with interviews, conversation, found footage, hand painted animation and song. In a series of fragmented ‘daytime’ sequences, a range of artists, writers and performers reflect on contemporary queer and trans identity and its proximity to desire and violence. Intercut with flashes of the sun and sky, city streets and text, subjects include Sarah Schulman, Che Gossett, Macy Rodman and Debra Soshoux. Each of these segments is punctuated by ‘night-time’ diversions, narrated by writer Johanna Hedva in the dual role of both narrator and Prince. Loosely following the structure of Kleist’s play, the sleepwalking Prince struggles with his somnambulant habits, and the invasion of the unconscious mind into flesh and bone. In half-remembered dream images, the narrative unfolds through flashes of nocturnal gardens, high visibility reflective clothing, neon signs and a lugubrious ballad.

The Personal Things
by Tourmaline
USA, 2019, 3 mins 04, English

Released on Trans Day of Remembrance 2016, "The Personal Things" is a short animated film based on an interview—conducted by Tourmaline —with Miss Major, director emeritus of the Transgender, Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project, a program that assists transgender persons who are disproportionately incarcerated under the prison-industrial complex. Miss Major is a "community leader―an organizer, activist, prison abolitionist, former sex worker, formerly incarcerated person, transgender elder and mother to countless transgender and GNC youth" (HuffPo). "The Personal Things" focuses on the "small every day ways Miss Major Griffin-Gracy fights back and challenges the status quo," Tourmaline writes. "At a moment of increased violence I wanted to release it on Trans Day of Resilience/Remembrance because Miss Major is someone whose life and labor has allowed for so many of us to live, including myself." Featuring the voice of Miss Major, directed by Tourmaline, illustrated by Micah Bazant, animated by Pamela Chavez, scored by Geo Wyeth, produced by Hope Dector and BCRW (Barnard Center for Research on Women).

The audio interview

Audio Interview Timeline (01:01:44)

On AOI

01:14: On AOI

08:28: How does AOI facilitate communication and understanding among participants?

11:10: How does AOI navigate the intricate connections between queer-feminist theory (or: cultural gender theory; or: academia/the university), art, politics, and activism to foster meaningful discussions and transformations?

19:23: Can you provide some examples of projects or initiatives facilitated by AOI?

26:21: Has AOI's focus area led to the emergence of novel ideas that may not have arisen within individual disciplines?

31:19: Can you elaborate on instances where discussions or projects hosted by AOI have brought about changes in thinking?

On the film program

45:27: You mentioned that AOI's core themes revolve around gender, art, and activism. How did this influence the selection of the short film program we will see?

50:34: You also talk about the experimental nature of short films and your interest in form. Could you elaborate on that?

53.27: What sets apart these films portraying trans genealogies and communities from others?

01:00:02: Reaching out to friends and collaborators for this film program.

Our third edition (2023)

This third edition of our series is special, as we have chosen to dedicate it to the exploration of four distinct themes. We invite you to stay connected for forthcoming details about each program.

June (22 -29)  2023: Focus: Filmexplorer
October 26th - November 2nd 2023: Focus: Art of Intervention
December (7-14) 2023: Focus: Swiss Animation
February (8-15) 2024: Focus: Ukraine Video Art

On WF Online Series

The "WF Online Series" comprises four curated screening programs per year, each presenting a distinctive curatorial concept showcasing productions from Basel, Switzerland, and various corners of the world. Each program remains accessible for a duration of one week.

Our Funders

This project has been made possible thanks to the financial support of The Mary & Ewald E. Bertschmann-Stiftung, and
The Division of Cultural Affairs Basel-Stadt.