2022

Artists: Anaïs Héraud-Louisadat / Diane Tor

Title: Diane Torr: Performing Gender, Beyond Gender

Photo: Maria SIlvano

From #DNL27 Transitioning: Art, Politics & Technologies of Gender Change, Berlin, June 17–19, 2022

Panel & Installation dedicated to life and work of Diane Torr – a performance pioneer whose innovations proved pivotal in the development of transgender arts and culture. Scottish-born Diane initially trained in dance before moving to New York in the 1970s, where she became part of the emerging downtown performance art scene. Combining elements of movement, text, installation, film and video, Diane's work persistently explored questions of gender as performance. In the 1990s, she became internationally renowned for her drag king performances and "Man for a Day" workshops, which taught participants how to pass as male in the outside world. The workshops attracted many kinds of participant, and for some became a key step in their longer-term journey of transitioning.

In the panel, Stephen Scott-Bottoms and Anaïs Héraud-Louisadat lead through something of Diane’s artistic process: how the journey of her art and life brought her to investigate non-binary approaches to gender and sexuality at a time when the term "transgender" had not even been invented yet. The items for consideration include dinosaur skeletons, aikido training, gogo dancing, and the songs of Dusty Springfield.

Anaïs Héraud-Louisadat got to know Diane after reading Paul B. Preciado's book Testo Junkie. Having taken part in a Man for a Day workshop, she became an assistant to Diane, a co-performer, and a friend. Diane entrusted various objects and materials to her for archiving, and following Diane's death in 2017, Anaïs felt that she had to find a way to present them in public and bring them to life again.

Stephen Scott-Bottoms is a UK-based historian of the New York theatre and performance scene, who became friends with Diane after she moved home to Scotland in 2003. He worked with her to co-author the book Sex, Drag and Male Roles: Investigating Gender as Performance (2010), which documents the history and impact of her work, and places it in historical context. They remained close friends, and after she passed away, Stephen wrote Diane's obituary for The Guardian, at the request of her daughter Martina.

With this panel, Anaïs and Stephen hope to honor the memory of a remarkable artist and a dear friend, who made a profound difference in so many lives.