Gay Cheese

sculpture / intervention, 2013-ongoing
with Robert Zurenko

Any kind of cheese, labeled “Gay Cheese”, served to the public in art galleries.

How can cheese be gay? Is it made by gay people? Or is it just for gay people to eat? Will it make me gay if I eat it? Identity is a word, and as such it is subject to the instability of language.

I first served gay cheese at the Kresge Art Center in East Lansing, Michigan, from August to September of 2013. It was then presented as an interactive sculpture, meant to be eaten by the public. It was comprised of a cube of parmesan on a dainty dish, a knife, and a label identifying the cheese as gay. Because it had to stay out in the gallery for over two weeks, I replaced the cheese every and sanitized the dish & knife every morning while the exhibit was up.

In 2014 I served gay cheese again, as a 1-night intervention on an exhibition opening at the Michigan Institute for Contemporary Art, in Lansing, Michigan. I placed 2 pounds of diced cheddar on a metallic tray, a cup with pics, and a label identifying the cheese as gay, on a table next to the other snacks being served that night. All of it was consumed by the public.

A third serving of gay cheese happened in 2015 in the city of Criciúma, Brazil, as part of an exhibition curated by the Murro collective - Ramayana Lira and Alessandra Brandão. I could not be present at the time but the installation was made possible thanks to the help of Brazilian artists Ana Clara Piccolo and Vanessa Biff, who set the plate at the Casa da Cultura Neusa Nunes Vieira.