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‘This Damned Body’ tells the story of transition

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Swift Shuker in transition. Photo courtesy of www.thisdamnedbody.com.
Swift Shuker in transition. Photo courtesy of www.thisdamnedbody.com.

What is the process of transitioning like? A two-year project focusing on transgender performer Swift Shuker will give audiences a pretty good idea. “This Damned Body: A Living Archive of Transformation” will document Shuker’s transition from a male body to an androgynous one. It also turns the process into art — live performances, videos, photos, audio, and more. The goal is for the world to see how this change came to be and the challenges that accompany it.

Project web designer Joshua McLucas, who runs [redacted] Theater Company, which focuses on intimacy-centered performance, said the site www.thisdamnedbody.com will be included in the 2015 Digital Fringe, a new platform for digital art in FringeArts’ annual Fringe Festival. The project is supported by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund as well as the Swarthmore Project in Theater, in addition to a new Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.

At the This Damned Body site, viewers can read what has happened so far and view videos — on how it feels to be trans, what the first appointment for the transition or the first time taking estrogen is like, and more. Additions appear as the process continues: As Shuker’s body changes, so will the site.

Two years, three performances

A countdown clock in the upper right corner ticks away the hours until the next major transformation, which will happen August 28 through 30. The first of three live performances will take place. “This Damned Body is Carved Out of Meat” will feature Shuker, who is [redacted]’s co-artistic director, and their partner Naia Poyer. (Shuker uses the gender neutral pronoun “they” and its variants.) At the MAAS building, they’ll be playing characters, but also versions of themselves. “Truth and fiction are blurry in the live performances,” McLucas said. The plot is basically that Shuker is sad, and Poyer is trying to cheer them up. Of course, it’s more than that beneath the surface.

Next year, a second live performance called “This Damned Body is Going to Hell,” will swirl around depression and suicide. Following that, a third live performance, “This Damned Body is Coming Home,” is a celebration, “not that it’s the complete period full stop end point,” McLucas said, “but that bodies are hard and we can live with that in a way that can make us feel whole.”

Alive and not alone

McLucas, of University City, said the project will last two years because that’s how long the transition takes. The final show will coincide with the last major milestone — Shuker’s laser hair removal and the hormones easing from transition to maintenance levels. It’s a “massive adventure” for them, and an important one. “The goal is to try to keep other trans youth alive and let them know that they’re not alone,” he said.

Shuker and McLucas wanted to archive the process in a personal way so people will learn “what it feels like from day to day. We’re being up front about how dreadfully difficult it is and how exciting it can be,” McLucas said. “It’s going to be the most comprehensive, most personal summary of what this process looks like.”

McLucas was excited about the project as an artist because it’s lengthy and it’s compelling subject matter. As Shuker’s friend, he wanted to help because of “how much I care about Swift and I know this is incredibly important to them.”

Visitors to the site can read just how important it is to Shuker: “I am doing all this to keep myself alive. Art will keep us alive.”

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