hermaphroditic nurses - FUSE @ Vancouver Art Gallery

"Lucy Fur" - my nurse

*all photos courtesy of Christopher Young

late November marked Vancouver Art Gallery’s FUSE party for it’s WACK! Art of the Feminist Revolution exhibit. art gallery goers eagerly lined up at the entrance to participate in the various art activities of FUSE, such as adult puppet shows, live bands and gallery tour. in the gallery, certain people were seen wearing blue patches with red crosses in the middle, around their necks, heads, arms and legs. what were those patches? and where were they from? Curious souls will soon realize that the patches were from a live art demonstration by Irene Loughlin and collaborators. it was a healing demonstration where cross dressed “nurses” diagnosed your major life problem and prescribed appropriate treatments. as if it were a real clinic, the “nurses” gave each “patient” a folder and a sheet of paper with all the appropriate sections filled in like symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. the “patient” was then asked to indicate which body part the problem was hurting most and the “nurses” would subsequently “bandage” that part with the aforementioned blue patches. the art demonstration was an interesting concept, but what most people noticed were not the bandages, diagnosis procedures nor patients’ folders. rather the nurses’ attire drew the most attention.

"Danny" - the other nurse

Lucy Fur was my nurse – she had on pronounced makeup, spiked eyebrows, hot pink bra and tong covered with a fishnet jumpsuit, skyhigh patent leather boots and a sexy corset purse. but Fox was also a “he” who had a neat black goatee and a deep soothing male voice. yes, my nurse was a hermaphrodite, an understanding one too. after she diagnosed me, i decided it would be a nice change if i interviewed her in turn.

the nurses

Fur described the project as an exploration of self of the “patient” and for her. she used to be a shy person but this demonstration allowed her to gain the confidence of putting herself in fire. as seen by the “nurses” attire, everyone naturally wondered about their sexual orientation. when asked about her sexual orientation, Fur felt that she was neither female nor male, but both at the same time. the hobby guitarist has lived as just a male, and lived as just a female but has blended both personalities together by trial and error. In relation to the art project, Fur ended with a memorable quote that we should keep in mind whether as “patients” to the FUSE “nurses” or those special “nurses” in our lives - “it is not the name, clothes or job that defines us, we’re something far greater.”

*where you can view more of Christopher Young’s work: http://www.chris-young.ca/
*where you can learn more about the Vancouver Art Gallery and FUSE: http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/


- cup of red