IQC – Identity Quotients Calculator
“Frustrated at times by a lack of understanding of my work, even within/between the various marginalized communities I belong to, I analyzed my work to discover in what context different disciplines have been presented 1999-2009. This resulted in the invention of my Identity Quotients Calculator – IQC ©. If mainstream society of the dominant culture defines ‘normal’ as male, European, middle-class, heterosexual, able-bodied, the further you are away from that, the least likely your work will be presented, commissioned, funded, reviewed in a mainstream context. This I call the Standard Deviation – how far you are away from ‘the norm’.
That’s So Gay!
A 3-part documentation of That’s So Gay!, a multidisciplinary, spoken word performance in Calgary, Canada, 2009. Presented as part of The Balancing Acts Commissioning Project.
Meg worked in 5 artistic disciplines, has 5 disabilities, belongs to 5 communities: women, disabled, queer, androgynous, abuse survivors. She invokes humor in this multimedia exploration of some of the 125 different characters she could be on any given day, using her Identity Quotients Calculator. From her childhood as an alien, to where diversity policy hits reality in the workplace, to a close encounter with a purple star fish. ‘That’s so gay’ considers the many ways people are defined as ‘other’ and the search for solidarity across lines of gender, sexuality, race, disability; and species. It’s about being the only one, not being the only one, times when you wish someone would drop from the sky and help you in the fight against oppression – sometimes they do!
Other material
Meg’s articles on artistic practice in the context of the development of women working in film, and disability arts practice both in Aotearoa and Canada, and the IQC.