As technology becomes ever more intertwined in daily human life, and the civil rights of transgender people are under unprecedented threat, the cyberqueer genre has gained increased relevance. Historically, cyborgs have frequently been used by the dominant culture to symbolize the danger posed by the disruption of social norms. However, for these same reasons, the cyborg has accrued an affinity within the transgender and genderqueer communities as a subversive gesture.

A growing number of queer artists across diverse media are embracing posthuman aesthetics in their practice, thereby subverting the oppressive trope of the “monstrous” cyborg figure and redefining it as an icon of radical self-determination and gender euphoria.

Queer Futurities features the work of:

Abby Lowenstein, Tabitha Nikolai, James Ross, Sam Szabo, Ava Wanbli, and Aleida Zapata.

James Ross and Sam Szabo critique present-day cis-heteronormative biases embedded in the framework of the internet through satirical narratives.  

Ava Wanbli and Aleida Zapata offer intensely personal meditations on the trans body in gestures which disrupt the gaze of commodification and fetishization.  

Abby Lowenstein records the first-person experiences of queer people among the first generation of digital natives, while Tabitha Nikolai invites us into an interactive virtual environment to discover a far-future centering the transgender experience.

Together, the work of these artists envision the possibility of transformative futures which transcend binaries that regulate and control the performance of gender and sexuality.