Decolonoscopy
Critical Design
Decolonoscopy presents a multimedia installation that, through an interactive experience, aims to dialogue with viewers to rework social norms and dismantle the oppressive structures in which they are formed. It reflects on an examination of queerness as situated across socio-economic systems and concerning cultural narratives. Considering Julia Kristeva’s theories of abjection, the abject is employed as a lens for reading patterns of social exclusion. It is also proposed as a tool for possible design strategies that seek to transition between narratives.
Decolonoscopy is constructed to resemble an anus on its exterior in confrontation with the spectator. Inside, it presents a self-reflective performance, in which I take the theory into a physical exercise by using my own queer body to subvert dominant narratives by inhabiting my skin as a form of confirming my queer existence. It is accompanied by Pedra Costa’s (2023) The Southern Butthole Manifesto, as read by queer individuals from the global south. The project is developed as an exercise of queer knowledge production and communication through a performative and material-based introspective analysis of queerness and productivity.
Decolonoscopy is a space for postcapitalist dialogue as motivated by abject features inspired by transgressive queer cultural expressions. The spectator, in confrontation with the installation, is invited to follow their abject curiosity as a method of interrogating their own narratives and social perceptions. Through this act, the abject fulfils its design potential and provokes a critical debate in which queerness is reframed beyond heteronormative thought.
This installation forms part of the undergraduate thesis project Decolonoscopy: Abject Queerness Towards Postcapitalist Discourse, which was recognised as the Best Undergraduate Thesis among IE University’s Bachelor in Design Class of 2025. It will also be showcased at Dutch Design Week 2025.
For the following images, viewer discretion is advised.
