Decolonoscopy

Abject Queerness within Dominant Narratives

Decolonoscopy is a multimedia installation that critically examines the relationship between queerness, productivity, and cultural narratives. Informed by Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection (1980), it employs the abject as both a lens and a strategy to dismantle oppressive structures. Here, the abject is understood as that which challenges what is socially constructed as normal or acceptable, disturbing notions of identity, systems, and order. In this context, it is used to evidence and denounce dominant narratives that confine the place of queerness within a spectrum of what is considered socially acceptable in capitalist socioeconomic systems. Queerness is therefore studied in its defiance of dominant culture and embraced beyond its position in the capitalist agenda, inspired by transgressive queer cultural productions and frameworks from queer, feminist, and art theory. Decolonoscopy positions abject design as a catalyst for postcapitalist dialogue, challenging the heteronormative ideals embedded in systems of power and culture through alternative modes of representation.

The Installation

Constructed to resemble an abstract human anus, the installation confronts viewers through its provocative materiality and physical interaction. The anus functions as a symbol of unproductive queerness and as a site of non-heterosexual, non-reproductive pleasure. It is understood as non-gender-specific and therefore possesses a particular potency outside normative paradigms. In its liminality, it participates in a negotiation between queerness and dominant culture, which is relevant to interpreting social constructs. Through the orifice-like opening, viewers insert their heads while in a crawling posture, entering a space where mirrors surround a self-reflective video performance. In this piece, the designer uses his queer body as a medium to subvert dominant narratives, inhabiting his own skin as a statement of queer existence. The video is accompanied by readings of Pedra Costa’s The Southern Butthole Manifesto, performed by queer voices from the Global South. This experience transforms the visitor from passive observer to active participant, encouraging introspection, discomfort, and dialogue around the social scripts that regulate identity.

Abjection as a Design Strategy

Through its design, Decolonoscopy reframes queerness beyond its productive value in capitalism, advocating for a discourse that embraces multiplicity, fluidity, and resistance. The installation constitutes an exercise in critical design, exploring how abjection can be reinterpreted as a tool for liberation and creativity. By confronting audiences with transgressive aesthetics and inviting them to interrogate their own perceptions, the work sparks a conversation on the fragility of norms and the possibilities of postcapitalist futures. It functions as a space for deconstructing and reevaluating phobic thinking, aiming to further establish design as a critical field and foster a queerer societal transformation.