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GRID
Rules and regulation of how to be a gay Haynes manual 2.19
The Haynes manual was created in order to play on a culture which is generally stereotyped as feminine. I have created the manual to work with the original Haynes manual which is associated with hyper masculinity.
Haynes manuals generally have a coloured hardback cover, with black and white contents. The text is usually broken up into columns of 2 or 3 ,with picture added, as shown in the sample figures to the right.
Rules
While replicating the manual I decided to keep most of the text of the original inside but instead of the car model I replaced it with the term homosexual 2.19. thus creating a humorous play on words.
copy of homosexual 2.19
Upon completion of the design I realised the measurements for the book itself were wrong as I chose the default a4 size book where as the Haynes manuals are a little larger width wise.
Upon printing the manual there were other drawbacks:
.The manual was printed with a gloss finish which
you do not see in Haynes manuals.
. Some of the images used also came out with a
lower resolution than anticipated.
To present the work , it was placed upon a podium which was painted black in order to contrast with the white cover of the manual.
Although I enjoyed creating the book I feel it did not correlate with my goal to break down stereotypes . It came across more like making fun of stereotypes. There was also the problem of trying to fit in every single piece of information into the book, such as every single gay stereotype inclusive of, but not restricted to : bears , twinks , jocks etc.
Moving forward I decided to create art with more of a personal connection to my self.
Snapped
Deconstructing the normality in which the LGBT community have to announce their sexuality " which can be a very traumatic experience for said person".
I remember coming out and it was pleasant ..... the thought of having to announce to everyone I was gay knowing certain stereotypes existed made me feel very guilty to friends and family. Not only that , in my experience when you do "come out of the closet , people expect you to act more flamboyant and base you on stereotypes.
To play on deconstructing the stereotypes i started by recycling a wardrobe stripping all the varnish off in order to repaint.
The chosen colour was pink as pink is classed as a feminine colour which is also a sterotype for gays to be fem.
I then left the wardrobe outside of my house and asked people to spray paint any stereotypes associated with gay men , unfortunately I did not have permission to video record anyone.
The wardrobe was then fully broken down and re-arranged until I was happy with the arrangement.
It was then titled "Snapped" as it has mutliple meanings.
Snapped - to become emotionally unstable.
Snapped - to perform drastically better .
These two definitions both relate to the piece. While some people thrive on coming out, there is an immense pressure of keeping such a big part of your life a secret , the overwhelming amount of stereotypes then placed upon you can give you a lot of emotional distress.
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