Project
Brandon
Brandon is a documentary story about (sexual) identity, initiated by the internationally acclaimed media artist Shu Lea Cheang, and made accessible through the Internet in 1998-1999. The project researched issues of sexual politics through a series of hyperlinked experimental narratives and discourses. The events were staged at the Theatrum Anatomicum in The Waag, Amsterdam.
In co-production with the Guggenheim Museum New York, two events were staged as part of the project: 'DIGI GENDER SOCIAL BODY: Under the knife, Under the spell of anaesthesia', a performance and installation, and 'Would the jurors please stand up? Crime and punishment as Net Spectacle', a netcast roundtable. Both events were broadcasted on the video wall of the Guggenheim Museum and presented on the World Wide Web.
In the course of the year two public events were organized which were a combination of forum, performance and installation. These events took place in the Theatrum Anatomicum of the Waag in Amsterdam whilst simultaneously being broadcast on the internet and shown on the Videowall of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Brandon was shown on an unusual scale for web projects in these days: three interactive displays of 25 screens each.
The Waag's Theatrum Anatomicum was of major importance to the Brandon project. This is where in the 17th century, the guild of surgeons publicly taught human anatomy by dissecting the corpses of criminals. This practice was the inspiration behind Rembrandt's painting 'The Anatomical Lesson of Dr. Tulp'. Brandon can be seen as a contemporary version of these dissections.