The Set Up by Evelyn Wh-ell is a multimedia performative reading that navigates trans subjectivity through narrative tropes and the traps of representation. Erected via the text and scenography, the labyrinthine theatrics of detective fiction, horror, and melodrama establish an identity as a trap from which it is impossible to exit.

The Set Up reflects upon the empty promise of escape through self-actualisation, exploring cinematic and narrative genres as imperfect predictive methodologies for navigating one’s way out of one’s current condition. Structured according to the temporal logic of a joke that never reaches its punchline, The Set Up reflects upon an endlessly deferred belief in the improbable as a strategy of trans counterknowledge against normative attempts at revelation.

Video: Mikas Zabulionis

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Evelyn Wh-ell (UK) is an artist, writer and researcher living in Cambridge. Their practice makes use of trans forms and aesthetic strategies, working with parody and humour to explore the ‘traps’ of gendered subjectivity. Evelyn’s writing has been published by Another Gaze, Art Monthly, Cambridge Literary Review, World Picture Journal, and permeable barrier, and they were a Commissioned Writer for New Contemporaries in 2022.

Credits
Artist: Evelyn Wh-ell
Scenography: Algirdas Jakas
Coordinators: Edvinas Grinkevičius (Kaunas Artists’ House), Povilas Gumbis (Rupert), Rugilė Miliukaitė (Rupert)
Graphic design: Marek Voida
Communication: Karolina Augevičiūtė
Sound engineer: Arūnas Periokas
Translator: Paulius Balčytis
Editor: Evelina Zenkutė

Part of Re-Imagine Europe: New Perspectives for Action. Co-funded by the European Union.
Sponsored by: Vilnius City Municipality, Nordic Culture Point, Tech Zity
Commissioned by Rupert (2023)
Premiered by Rupert (2023)