A RESPONSE THAT IS ALL I HAVE.

MFA DEGREE SHOW.

FOUR COMPONENTS.

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The Institution shut down multiple proposed performances involving my partner, Ian Van Tillo, and myself.

The initial performance proposed to make a cocktail from 125ml of my partners blood and while there were acceptable and relevant Health and Safety concerns from this, over a third of the response focused unduly upon HIV - upon my partners serostatus.

Ian was reduced and referred to as a ‘Biohazardous Risk” exclusively, in what The National AIDS Trust UK asserts as deeply Stigmatising.

Incorrect information on HIV Transmission and Treatment was further put forth by the institution who maintain that anything incorrect was stated - The incorrect nature of the information put forth has been further asserted by The National AIDS Trust.

It was in question if, with incorrect information of HIV transmission put forth, and where someone who is HIV+, regardless of their undetectable status, is still a ‘Biohazard’ by the institution, if it was even permissible to be on the institutions premises. This took around 2 months to be answered.

The language put forth was deeply stigmatising - the institution deploying numerous policies and de-subjectifying an already vulnerable group that is increasingly overlapping with others (over a third of diagnoses are women, and people of Black African Origin disproportionately representing one third of the people in HIV care) and exponentially growing - a 27% increase in diagnoses has occurred over the past 10 years - is incredibly concerning, and callous where HIV serostatus is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

Widespread knowledge around HIV is extremely lacking, and here, concretely, the ways HIV stigma persists is displayed. HIV stigma persists. Policy and the institutions that deploy them, are instructions that orient and move subjects. Against all, my relationship is more than ‘Serodiscordant’.

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WALLS - ‘A REPRESENTATION OF BLOOD’

WALL PAINT FROM DRIED BLOOD SAMPLE

2026

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Performance - AGAINST ALL HOLD

THE INSTITUTION REPEATEDLY SHUT DOWN MULTIPLE PERFORMANCES I PROPOSED INVOLVING MY PARTNER, IAN VAN TILLO, AND MYSELF. HIV WAS FOCUSED UPON WHERE IT WAS NOT RELEVANT TO ANY HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY, MY PARTNER REDUCED AND REFERRED TO AS A BIOHAZARDS RISK, AND INCORRECT INFORMATION AROUND HIV AND TREATMENT USED TO JUSTIFY THIS.

IT WAS IN QUESTION, UNDER THE POLICY BEING DEPLOYED, WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS PERMISSIBLE FOR IAN TO BE ON THE PREMISES OF GSA DUE TO THE CATEGORISING OF HIM AS A BIOHAZARDS RISK.

SO, AGAINST ALL OF THIS, ALL WE COULD DO, WAS HOLD AND SING A SIMPLE COMPOSITION OF MY OWN

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VIDEO, SOUND - ally van tillo’s voice

Queer history, and the aids crisis often becomes something ‘locked off’ and over. many many people diagnosed in this time period did pass, but many did not. QUEER HISTORY OFTEN TRUNCATED, FILLED WITH VOIDS. ALLY VAN TILLO, AN INCREDIBLE MAN, SHOULD BE HEARD IN THE FULLNESS OF HIS VOICE

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IMAGE - BELOW

iMAGES HAVE COME with what I have - a growing archive of documents, policies, letters, emails and poetics with above all, the love of an incredible man. The love of two incredible men. pHOTOGRAMS, DARKROOM PRINTS, LITHOGRAPHS, HANDWRITTEN NOTES - ALL MADE THROUGH PROCESSES OF CONTACT.