Shadowboxing

Shadowboxing builds on Abdi Osman’s ongoing research surrounding the gaps between experiences and representations of queer cruising, space-making, and place-making in the city of Toronto. A projection of lush green park environments documented by Osman from sites across the city appears. Osman’s holdings and records of queer, locational fortitude speak to the countless compounded sites around us where bodies have forged connections in time and space in spite of the continued realities of homophobia, racism, and white supremacy that exist in Toronto, and beyond. The projection is augmented by an online audio work that features oral histories about cruising from the perspectives and experiences of Black, queer, and trans community members, as recorded by the artist in the city. Through the metaphor of shadowboxing as a relational, defensive, and precarious state, the installation invites viewers to consider some of the shifting conditions in which queer connection takes place. In this way, shadows offer and represent radical spaces, involving environmental and bodily negotiations that are always site-specific.