Tessa Boffin
The Knight's Move, 1990
Archival inkjet print and vinyl in seven (7) parts
Dimensions variable
The Knight's Move (1990) explores the potential of historic representation to open unfulfilled desires. Boffin wrote 'One way we can move forward is by embracing our idealized fantasy figures, by...
The Knight's Move (1990) explores the potential of historic representation to open unfulfilled desires. Boffin wrote 'One way we can move forward is by embracing our idealized fantasy figures, by placing ourselves into the great heterosexual narratives of courtly and romantic love: by making the Knight's move - a lateral or sideways leap.' Creating her own heroes, studio shots reimagine historic characters of the Knight, the Knave, the Angel, the Casanova and the Lady-in-Waiting as lesbian protagonists. The opening image in the cemetery sets the scene with scattered photographs recognizing lesbian figures of the past.
The opening image is in a cemetery where scattered photographs recognize lesbian photographers of the past, through the inclusion of images ‘by Alice Austen of the photographer and her partner Gertrude Tate kissing; by Berenice Abbott of Janet Flanner; and by Cecil Beaton of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas; all arranged under a headstone ornamented with an angel statuette.’ The display of photographs speaks to lesbian visibility and the importance of visual representation in claiming and recording desire.
Individual studio shots reimagine classic historic characters of the Knight, the Knave, the Angel, the Casanova and the Lady-in-Waiting as lesbian protagonists. Two characters hold boards with the names of prominent lesbian figures from history, in part that the images are never misread. Proposing an alternative ‘knight in shining armor,’ ‘The larger-than-life knight with her shaved head and slicked back hair, her muscles exaggerated by a robust suit of armor, her face defiantly expressionless, conjures the dilemma of dyke self-preservation: to be safe as a woman we often take on masculine guises, which then can result in homophobic attack, therefore compounding vulnerability.’
These images draw on history, but they look towards future representations of desire. Boffin prioritizes fantasy, rejecting the importance placed on the documentation of the ‘real’ in photography. Instead, photography is a space to explore the construction of lesbian identity both in fact and fantasy.
The opening image is in a cemetery where scattered photographs recognize lesbian photographers of the past, through the inclusion of images ‘by Alice Austen of the photographer and her partner Gertrude Tate kissing; by Berenice Abbott of Janet Flanner; and by Cecil Beaton of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas; all arranged under a headstone ornamented with an angel statuette.’ The display of photographs speaks to lesbian visibility and the importance of visual representation in claiming and recording desire.
Individual studio shots reimagine classic historic characters of the Knight, the Knave, the Angel, the Casanova and the Lady-in-Waiting as lesbian protagonists. Two characters hold boards with the names of prominent lesbian figures from history, in part that the images are never misread. Proposing an alternative ‘knight in shining armor,’ ‘The larger-than-life knight with her shaved head and slicked back hair, her muscles exaggerated by a robust suit of armor, her face defiantly expressionless, conjures the dilemma of dyke self-preservation: to be safe as a woman we often take on masculine guises, which then can result in homophobic attack, therefore compounding vulnerability.’
These images draw on history, but they look towards future representations of desire. Boffin prioritizes fantasy, rejecting the importance placed on the documentation of the ‘real’ in photography. Instead, photography is a space to explore the construction of lesbian identity both in fact and fantasy.
Exhibitions
Tessa Boffin: 1989-1993, Hales New York, USA, 20231
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