'Towards a Common Survival' by Institute of Queer Ecology at Prairie, Chicago

The Institute of Queer Ecology (IQECO) was founded, out of necessity, as an act of resistance. It is an institute of hope and relentless optimism towards a utopian ideal, asking only for a place in this world for organisms of every kingdom, gender, and sexuality. IQECO evolved in the tidepool of fear and urgency that followed the 2016 election. In the past 17 months, the Trump administration has pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, restricted the rights of transgender inmates, appointed a climate science denier to the helm of the EPA, quietly removed the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, and made countless (relentless) other steps towards the erasure of environmental and LGBTQ+ concerns. The question at hand now is simply: How Do We Survive?

That question is loaded. Many of us are growing numb to the bombardment of slow violence which disproportionately affects groups of people that have historically experienced injustice. This resurgence of biopolitical control, overt racism and (capitalistic) environmental destruction in America angers many of us but is also actively destroying peoples lives. Personal survival is not on all of our individual minds, but Common Survival—for our extended communities— needs to be.

Common Survival manifests as a multiformat publication, contained within an 11 x 17 x 5 inch box. The 33 included projects appear as texts, zines, screen prints, photographs, sculptural objects, poems, video, audio recordings and other hybridized modes of research display. The publication is the result of an international open call and includes contributions from:

Agustine Zegers Allyson Church + Greta Skagerlind Amanda Baum & Rose Leahy Andil Gosine Andrea Tirrell Angela Chan / algaela Antonia Wright Catriona Sandilands Charlie Ehrenfried Corinne Teed David Kim Edgar Xochitl Emily Harter Emily Jones Estraven Lupino-Smtih Haley Bueschlen Invisible Labor Jack Schneider Lee Pivnik Les U. Knight Lucy Cleek Luis Angel Zepeda Marius Mason Micah Schippa Michelle Site Molly Adams Nicolas Baird Pinar Ateş Sinopoulos-Lloyd Plasticity Gabriele Leo - Grazia Mappa POSADAS - Pablo Herza, Ignacio Hernández Murillo Queer EcoJustice Project Quinn Harrelson Rachel Weaver - Weaver Zines Ryan Hammond Sabeen Chaudhry Tiger Dingsun Tim Mann Virtuellestheater

At the conclusion of the exhibition 'Common Survival' will be available to loan from the Institute of Queer Ecology. Message [email protected] for more information.