Residency Alumni Update
We are so proud to share some exciting updates from artist Rae Threat, an alum of our artist residency program and current member of our artist collective. During their 2018 residency with us, Rae created #TheUntitledBodyProject, the first-ever 3D photo gallery. Since then, they have remained involved with Level Ground through our artist collective and continue to create new work with trans and gender non-conforming models in and around the adult industry.
Rae contributed to the Spring 2020 issue of Duke University Press’s Transgender Studies Quarterly, which came out this month. This issue of TSQ focuses on pornography:
“For many people, trans or not, pornography is the first point of contact with trans identities, communities, and subcultures. Always a popular niche, demand for trans pornography has significantly risen in recent years. No longer the domain of a handful of small studios, trans porn is now produced by transnational porn empires and is becoming a staple of commercial pornography production. To date, trans studies has not effectively engaged with the topic of trans porn, while pornography scholarship has largely neglected it as a genre of significance. The contributors to this issue—a mix of scholars and industry insiders—fill that gap and provide an overview of this emerging area of inquiry. Articles include an examination of trans micropornography (user-made remixes shared among fans), a history of two pioneers of mainstream trans pornography, and a photo-essay of portraits by Rae Threat.”
In addition, Rae was a featured guest earlier this month on Between the Sheets, a weekly talk show on Instagram Live hosted by gender non-conforming actor and activist Nico Tortorella. The pair chatted about adult filmmaking, body positivity, and even gave a shoutout to Level Ground!
Finally, we are very pleased to share that Rae’s residency project #TheUntitledBodyProject is currently being edited into a forthcoming web series with an expected release date later this year. If you saw Rae’s residency show, you know how exciting this project is—and we can’t wait to see the web series.
We’re so happy for Rae and all the well-deserved attention their work has received recently. Be sure to check out Transgender Studies Quarterly, watch Rae’s convo with Nico Tortorella, and stay tuned for more information about #TheUntitledBodyProject.