In honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility, trans performance artist Cassils is turning the grounds of the National Mall into a massive photograph on Sunday, March 31 at 11 AM. The piece, called “Etched in Light,” will be the centerpiece of TRANSform the Vote, a voting registration event organized by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Queer Equity Institute.
For “Etched in Light,” more than 100 trans and non-binary artists will take part in the live creation of a cyanotype, an early style of photograph that uses UV light to burn a silhouette into a monochromatic blue print. For this piece, the UV light will come directly from the sun. The performance is intended to evoke the imagery of die-ins and the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Cassils’ 2021 choreographed work “Human Measure” used a similar technique. The artist and mostly nude trans and non-binary performers danced and pressed against fabric, swathed in synthetic UV light. The effect was a blue-tinted canvas with white, body-shaped markings revealing the negative space where the performers previously stood.
In addition to the visual component of “Etched in Light,” there will also be live vocalizations and a musical score for the hour-long piece. The auditory elements will be performed by Blood Is Here, an experimental music group compiled of artists Carmina Escobar, Roco Córdova and Dorian Wood.
The TRANSform the Vote Rally will take place at Jefferson St SW & 7th Street SW from 11 am to 3 pm. “Etched in Light” will begin after a lineup of guest speakers, including Pose star and trans activist Angelica Ross and two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Monica Beverly Hillz.
