The Slime Workshop: An Expanded Green-Screen Lecture, Film Screening, and Interactive Performance Event was a live experiment in radical [trans]formation through video and ‘Queer-keying’ performance. In this event, I explored slime as the most 'Queer' 'keying' medium—more than fabric, paint, or lighting. This methodology originated during the creation of my 2024 film DIGITAL CLEANSE (in search of bliss) that was screened at the event. The film follows performers Ellie Loor and Lichen Von Stag as they undergo a sensual, transformative slime baptism within the nostalgic Windows XP interface. When ‘keyed’ in post-production, I found that the slime would behave similarly to my previous ‘Chroma-key’ tinted materials. The slime offered some unique textures in post-production, but still had largely predictable outcomes in the editing suite. However, in live performance, the element of chance in manipulating slime in real-time introduced powerful new possibilities, for body movement and image manipulation.
Drag performer Arik LeDouche contributed to the show with a performance previously featured in a quarterly production that I worked on with The King Collective called The Drag Bazaar: A Night of Masc Presenting Performance Art, which is a drag king showcase based in Richmond, VA. Their act—set to Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” was adapted for my first ‘Queer-keying’ show with visuals I had created for a projection that would be positioned behind them while performing. This image-performer dynamic reflected my interest in expanding video and marked a new phase in my ‘Queer-keying’ practice. The Slime Workshop was directly inspired by films screened at the event and recent experiences at local water 'Belle Isle', building connections between digital storytelling, live performance, and embodied transformation. The live performance experimentation of The Slime Workshop allowed me to explore the evolving relationship between physical slime, webcam, and body. As the physical slime expanded in the center of the room with my body movement, it symbolically and physically pushed the boundaries of my identity, environment, and visual representation—key pillars of my developing Queer methodology.