Is there certain logic to queer geography? This presentation will explore the different hegemony of social structures in society that frequently filter and often limit social uses of queer spaces. Spaces that are seen as non-spaces or powerless structures that exist parallel to streets, parks, sculptures, public toilets, department stores, software companies … Spaces that are appropriated socially and physically into the realm of a queer meanings. The clash between space, Marxist Geographer David Harvey writes, happens between the micro-scale of the body and the personal and the macro-scale of the global political economy. The new book Queer Geographies: Beirut, Tijuana, Copenhagen is a collaborative work of artists, activists, and scholars, showcasing queer art in three very different cities throughout the 2000s, showcasing how these cities produce their own significant meanings. Geographer and queer researcher Jen Jack Gieseking Bowdoin College writes about this book, “The art and its very smart, beautiful catalog highlight the identical processes of neoliberal capitalism that touch each of these places and brings queer life into sync more and more from greater distances.”

The 7 PM reception will be followed by a presentation at 7:30 of work from the book and a conversation between editor Lasse Lau and some of the contributors (TBA).

Lasse Lau (Sønderborg Denmark, 1974) is a award winning filmmaker and video artist who lives and works in Brussels and Copenhagen. His films and art explore socioeconomic issues relating to conflicts of space. He has exhibited in Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin, Germany), The British Museum (London, GB), Bozar (Brussels, Belgium) Museum of Contemporary Art (Zagreb, Croatia), Museum of Resistance (Turin, Italy), CAA Lagos (Lagos, Nigeria) Casa del Lago (Mexico City) Contemporary Museum (Baltimore, USA) and MoMA PS1 (New York, USA). Lau is the co-founder and board member of Kran Film Collective and New York based artist group Camel Collective. In 2005 he was a fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program (New York, USA).

Photo of Copenhagen power plant by Flo Maak