Nah!!!!!!!! He is actually completely oblivious to it all. Kev’s a dickhead. He can’t help it – he has been engrained to be like this. He thinks the Patriarchy is his best mate, but it’s actually his biggest foe. Since birth he has been told to suppress all feeling and focus only on what our hyper masculine society seeks – power and control. Kevo and his mates are actually terrified! Not because of the inevitable gender power shift (couldn’t come sooner) but because someone might find out that they actually feel *eemootiiioonnn*. What a bunch of bloody sissies! Maybe if the Kevs, Gregs, Damos n’ Darrens of the world stood up for themselves and didn’t have the emotional intelligence of a carrot they could in fact be…… happy?
While ‘Self-Concious Kev and other friends’ is ultimately a critique of all things macho it does offer some hope – a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak! The ‘Gimp Alliance League of Pluralistic and Open Masculinity’ (GALPOM) offers a solution to Kevs woes! Sacrifice autonomy! Sacrifice privilege! Sacrifice power! Get off on getting told what to do! Get off your podium and get gimp! This is clearly the only reasonable and logical way masculinity can survive into the future.*
*At least, until we dismantle the system of patriarchal oppression and build a new generation of gimp suit free, non-dickheads who are emotionally stable, more inclusive and less sad all the time.
Jackson Farley, Agus Wijaya & Jacquie Meng
Sydney Contemporary 2023
September 7-10, 2023