2016
Static & full motion digital billboards
1 of 4 of
All Identity Is Constructed
Static: 480 x 720px, 576 x 288px, 800 x 400px, 1080 x 1920px, 1200 x 336px, 1392 x 366px, jpeg, RGB colour
Full motion: 576 x 144px, 728 x 392px, 768 x 1366px, 1080 x 1920px, 1920 x 1080px, 2296 x 448px, mp4 video colour, sound (web only)
0:10
July-August 2016
UK-wide
I'm Not Who Everyone Thinks I Am (Michelle)
relates the experiences of Michelle, a trans woman. She describes the cost of the struggle to conform to other people’s expectations, the concomitant need to dissemble continuously, and the energy consumed by that need to live an untruth on a daily basis.
Michelle notes the precariousness of a person's situation if they are not in a position to stand up and become visible:
You Are Not Totally in Control Where Society Has Made You Adapt or Repress or Hide.
I'm Not Who Everyone Thinks I Am (Michelle)
culminates in a visceral, rallying assertion of identity:
I Need To Reconstruct Myself Around Who I Am and Not What Other People Believe I should Be.
This is the first instance of a work by Firrell directly addressing trans rights. It originated from the artist's growing feeling that trans rights were indicative of society's overall ability to progress or otherwise.
History Will Judge Us by the Way We Treat Our Trans Brothers and Sisters,
an early prototype, created between 2014 and 2016, and ultimately abandoned
The complete text of
I'm Not Who Everyone Thinks I Am (Michelle)
reads:
I regard myself now as being me. I'm able to express myself without thinking about myself. Not everything is a lifestyle choice. You are not totally in control where society has made you adapt or repress or hide. Nobody should have to feel threatened for being or expressing who they are. I'm not who everyone thinks I am. I need to reconstruct myself around who I am and not what other people believe I should be. All Identity Is Constructed.
