QUEER ENCOUNTERS KING's CROSS 2017-18

Queer Encounters is an exhibition of a series of conversations I had with eleven individuals about their queer memories of King's Cross in the 1980s, 90s and 00s. Following on from my year long commission Camden Encounters (2015) this work was created in response to the epic number of LGBTQ+ venues that have closed over the past decade in Kings Cross, and to the extremely accelerated development of the area. Both have completely changed the way Kings Cross not only looks but also operates: as public space, as private space, as a queer space.

The encounters took place in pubs and bars, (most often at Central Station), in people’s homes, via Skype (twice) and once on the old fashioned telephone.

The 1980s, 90s and 00s were witness to a great deal of change, including, most notably, the AIDS crisis, which many people talk about. Whilst each story is different, collectively they weave together to create alternative patterns: sometimes in compliment, at other times in contradiction to one another.

The conversations were recorded and then transcribed, word for word, and shared with each participant via file-sharing software Google Docs. Over an extended period, the transcripts were edited in collaboration with each individual, to work out what, of their conversations, could and could not be shared to a wider audience. The gaps you see (and hear) are those edits. The audio, hosted on soundcloud.com/queer-encounters and readable by your phone via the QR code at the bottom of each encounter, enables you to hear these stories as they were told.

The panels you see here were produced in collaboration with designer Frances Yeung.

HOW TO READ THESE ENCOUNTERS:

The encounters are numbered by the order in which they took place [and referred to by tags ]
Timings are in pink _
Black is what you can hear
Grey is what was said but is not on the audio.
_______ indicate parts that have been taken out.
tags indicate moments at which stories clash, coincide, compliment, collide.

EXHIBITIONS & PRESS

This project was exhibited 26th June-25th July at Everyman Cinema Kings Cross.

Out Down in King's Cross - Review of Queer Encounters King's Cross, Camden New Journal, 2018

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     Del LaGrace Volcano - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/del-lagrace-volcano 
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     Vic Roberts - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/vic-roberts 
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     Ramón Salgado-Touzón and Donald Urquhart - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/ramon-and-donald 
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     Jonathan Kemp - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/jonathan-kemp 
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     Keith - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/keith 
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     Linda Wilkinson - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/linda-wilkinson 
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     Jane Moloney - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/jane-moloney 
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     Elaine McKenzie - https://soundcloud.com/queer-encounters/elaine-mckenzie