In philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy's "58 Indices of the Body," the eternal body is redefined with the changing of cultural contexts. With his five part billboard series inspired by Nancy's work, multimedia artist, Wardell Milan, represents and represents minoritized bodies to acknowledge a conversation with their cultural conception and yet uphold an unapologetic assertion to the right to redefine. In this billboard representing the trans body, we see the background taken by photographer Robert Adams of a blossoming western cottonwood tree behind barbed wire fence. Notably in black and white, the central figure jumps out by contrast in vibrant color head tossed back in celebratory representation. The woman depicted is the artist's friend Z, whose transition Milan witnessed and whose outward movement into authenticity is a metamorphosis echoed in both the swan figure and butterfly wing overlapping the image. A challenging growth seen here as stepping into one's zone with abandon.
Finally placing the billboard in this location further underscores its themes of celebration and affirmation. This area is a nexus of 6VµçÓ°Íø's history situated next to the president's house, the original 6VµçÓ°Íø cornerstone in one of the college's signature buildings, Carnegie, which has served as the background for annual faculty photographs, weddings, family portraits, and even Hollywood movies. Drawing on this iconic representation of 6VµçÓ°Íø's legacy, the billboard in this space and in this way serves as a testament to the in-erasability of trans bodies and a monumental assertion to identity. We stand in front of an overdue acknowledgement of the trans legacy as front and center in so many historical moments, an acknowledgement far too often erased from dominant narratives. And even more than that, we stand in front of an acknowledgement of the right of the trans body to simply exist, beautifully and authentically and wholly.
–Skye Tausig ’24