“The Available Bodies” by z tye | Open Call 2022

“The Available Bodies” builds on an ongoing performance series born from artist z tye’s reaction to the growing number of trans/gender-non-conforming fatalities in America. As tye began conducting interviews on the subject with friends of trans experience, they responded to questions including: What did your safe space look like during adolescence? Was the church advertised as a safe house during that time? What does “realness” mean to you? How do you respond to the national genocide of TGNC folks? As 2021 saw 57 reported violent deaths of trans/gender-non-conforming people, the highest reported number of TGNC folks killed in years, The Available Bodies provides opportunities for fellowship in shared experiences through movement, spoken word, and sound making. Throughout the performance, the artists use red tape to create a landscape of safe space for trans ancestors to enter the ritual. During this manifestation, z tye works through a sequence of practices learned in the Pentecostal denomination and attempts to use them to conjure ancestors taken from this community too soon. Audience members are invited to hold solidarity as the performers create an immersive congregation during the initiation of their salvation.