BAN6 Conversations @ YBCA | Radical Identities (Part 2 of 3)

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Bay Area Now 6 Conversations | The Customizable Body: The Present/Future of Identity

Presented April 22, 2011 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

With its rich history of counterculture movements and California abundance, the Bay Area is a lifestyle laboratory for people and communities seeking to de-center the center and un-normalize the norms. Whether in the form of radical gender and sexual identity, political inclination, body modification, or technological utopianism, we are what the rest of the country fears and/or hopes to be. What's in the local water that attracts the Black Panthers, the weed-farming millionaires, the decompressing Burners? Given the rapid succession of social and identity-based movements here, what does the future hold for new, even radical, expressions of self?

The best way to frame this conversation is to weave together the influential voices—and avatars—of thought leaders working at the nexus of personal identity and cultural anthropology. Part I of the conversation explores gender and sexuality, featuring Michelle Tea, Valencia author and founder of RADAR Productions and Sister Spit, interviewing Amos Mac, founder and editor of Original Plumbing, the SF-based magazine dedicated to exploring the sexuality and culture of FTM transgendered men. Part II explores technology and the virtually human: Tom Boellstorff, Professor of Anthropology at UC Irvine, and author of Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, will be in dialogue with Philip Rosedale, creator of the paradigm-shifting virtual world Second Life. Finally, we will open up the discussion to the group at large where your perspective will be an essential element of an enriching discussion.

About BAN6 Conversations:
The unusual concentration of intellectual curiosity and creative energy in the Bay Area has fueled experimentation and innovation in a number of fields that have had significant impact on contemporary culture. For the sixth anniversary of our triennial — Bay Area Now 6 — we highlight six areas of influence — Food, Futurism, Community Activism, Radical Identities, Environment and Technology — through a series of roundtable conversations hosted by YBCA between February and June of 2011. Various 'experts' have been invited to participate in a public conversation with the BAN6 artists and YBCA curators. The public is also invited to observe and participate in a broader post-event conversation with the artists and guest speakers.