summary

'urnings' is the culmination of my course work at the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark. It is a web project consisting of three multimedia works ('looking', 'cruising' and 'high and horny') which are all ongoing. This project is essentially the first draft and gave me the opportunity to develop my web development skills and integrate that with my photography and film work.

why 'urnings'?

n. an archaic German word derived in the late 19th century, referring to a gay person

In August of 1867, German lawyer Karl Ulrichs stood before his colleagues of the Association of German Jurists with a shocking proclamation on his tongue. He would publicly request the revision of Germany’s anti-sodomy law, making Ulrichs one of the earliest advocates for gay rights.

Over cries of shock and protest from his colleagues Ulrichs delivered his speech, simultaneously outing himself and destroying his professional reputation. While brave, Ulrichs proclamation would mostly fall on deaf ears.

However, coining the word urnings to describe his own state of homosexuality, Ulrichs stands as a forefather of sorts for the modern western framework of queerness as identity and this work’s title serves as an homage to that history and idea. It examines what it is like for today’s ‘urnings’ in the United States and northern Europe in the almost unimaginably progressive times in which we live, at least from Ulrichs perspective.