The Sisters’ Ministry began with Pamphlets, so truly I am just continuing their legacy by handing out entertaining information that makes my message easier to grasp. Learning | Designing | Changing Reality.
The Pop-Up Book, a set of reveals one after the other, almost as if a book made for Drag Performers as there is always more than meets the eye.
When deciding the best course of action to convey the plans of the Sanctuary of Perpetual Indulgence, it did not take long to come to the conclusion that like the Sisters in San Francisco 50 years ago, the key to comprehension would be a hand-out or pamphlet of sorts, restating the mission of the organization while also spelling out the rationale for building the complex in the first place. But rather than a standard 11x17 piece of paper folded together a few times, the thought process was that rather than having something the critics would easily throw away, the hand-out or gift should mean something to them, it should have some heft or meaning to it that went beyond the project’s scope and became a didactic material. In discussion and brainstorming, there was talk of “Sticky Content” items that leave something in or on the hands of those it comes in contact with, and that is something Drag is very familiar with, performance-wise. There is a chance that an encounter with a drag performer will leave you covered in glitter or smeared in lipstick, or in other cases enamored by lingering smells of perfume on the gloves or wrists of the performer, so the sensorial element needed to be present if the item was meant to be an analog for Drag as a practice.
I decided to make the pamphlet into a full-scale pop-up booklet due to the nature of the craft of Drag and how it relies on the element of surprise and spectacle in a similar way to how those books do. I knew that I wanted the booklet to be equally entertaining and informative, which led to the outline of content I desired in it, speaking on the indigiqueer presence within Mexico City, touching on the history of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Church of San Agustin as a Building, and stating the importance of a place such as the proposal existing. All this while also working in visual and tactile components to keep the audience engaged.
I knew even in early sketches of the idea that I wanted the pages to expand, to contract, to flip, to pull, and to be seen from different perspectives, and in doing so I also knew that there had to be a way for multiple readings to be possible in spots. This would manifest itself throughout the book as the Red-Cyan old 3D overlays that could be read as two completely different scenes when seen through red-blue 3D glasses or lenses. This would also be a crossover with the Church Scale Model which employed the 3D Overlays on Film Paper to convey different scenes in the same room.
When questioning the form of the book I looked at other Augustinian churches and a characteristic shared among any was an Octagonal Window. I then designed a window pane and laser cut some acrylic circles to sit in the pane and from there the book would essentially become a peek into the window of the church, into the newly proposed purpose of the building, and into the possible future of safe zones of empowerment for the people of Mexico City and beyond.
The establishment and adherence to the Gender Binary is a remnant of Theological Colonialism and inherently silences Precolonial Indigenous Voices and Experiences. Dismantling that thought process places us in a more progressive and receptive design headspace.
When I was forming the connections between the performance and the handouts, even spanning back to the initial investigation into nightclubs, I knew I wanted a 3D lens as an interactive element, and in this situation, I knew exactly the play on words I would use once the project pivoted towards the Indigiqueer Identities zone. Gender Markers would be the lenses, but not the traditional Martian/Venusian Male and Female Gender markers that split things down the middle, but those belonging on the nonbinary and graygender spectrum. I chose 5 different markers as the basis for the lenses, so as to have variety amongst the picks, with each marker having the same base circular lens but various branching ends to signify the difference or the markers.
I chose Nonbinary, Third Gender, Transgender, Androgyne, and Trans-Nonbinary, each in both red and blue coloring to cover a spectrum of identity. I also wanted the charms to stand on their own as individually designed elements or as charms that could be displayed outside of the context of the project, so each was made with design patterns encompassing both the circle and extending outwards in whatever direction the identity arrows pointed.
With the marker charms the recipient of the book could see more than one scene play out within the booklets. It was a tool to both demonstrate the binary thinking of the church and to illustrate the importance of having the presence of masculine and feminine energies in order to capture the full meaning of the scenes.
There are central tenets of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and I felt it pertinent to give them a level of prominence in the work, and the best manner I could think of was to essentially write them in stone, or in this case, Glass. (or Hand-painted Acrylic set to look like Stained Glass)
This portion of the Pop-Up books also served as an informative handout and was one of the most labor-intensive portions of the production, both in design and execution, but the results speak for themselves. I knew that I wanted to convey the message of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in a way that one might see a church proclaim good works, and in that way, I thought stained glass windows would be the best avenue. Having already worked extensively with the laser cutting table for the Weaponized Charms project, I knew that acrylic would likely be the material I would use. The designs on the windows would come later as I figured out what the compositions of the shots would be, but I knew that each scene would depict a sister or sisters conducting one of their acts like saints or biblical figures.
I was intent on making the scenes simultaneously religious and secular, as the Sisters themselves are technically areligious and do their deeds out of a sense of obligation to do the right thing rather than a compulsion by a higher power. Each of the scenes also felt like a side of the dice being rolled to get another story about the organization and needed more than one symbol. I knew the dove was the bird associated with the church but I felt as though the message of acceptance would be more accessible if there were multiple types of birds in the fray, which is how the Cardinal, Owl, Flamingo, Quetzal, Bluejay, and Pigeon came to be included on the windows. Each bird carried with it a symbol of the act being portrayed, whether that be the Safe Sex pamphlet ministry symbology, bingo cards, protest signs, masks, hypodermic needles, or even a sandwich.
I had conceived of the scenes alongside learning the specific values of the order, and one that I found missing was the provision of access to healthcare. I see the church being a space of sanctuary, especially for those in immediate medical need or those in search of a space in which to be treated in the way they desire to be treated, addressed in the manner they wish to be addressed. I included the scene to show an extended acceptance to those who only desire to be affirmed in spaces where they might otherwise be rejected, and to show that identities past cisgender and heterosexual are just as valued.
References were sprinkled throughout the scenes to actions that have been taken by the Sisters, from protest to running soup kitchens, and especially highlighting hosting and spreading the good word. I made sure to include messages like “No to Discrimination, No to Alienation, No to Indoctrination, No to Corruption” to the Protest Scene because morals and joy come before bending to oppression. There are other moments like the recreation of Genesis with the handing off of the Condom, and the Burning Heart on the person receiving Top Surgery that still tied in religious theming. Play Fair, the original safe sex comic pamphlet, was included in the Ministry Scene because that was what brought the Sisters to Prominence in San Francisco and I felt it necessary to know the history of the organization.
In the book, I folded each scene behind the Dragged Up Door and had the tenets come one after another in an accordion to show the messaging of the Sisters. Alongside that was the explanation of Metanoia - The feeling or changing someone’s mind through good acts - which is what the organization attempts to do.
You can’t design a community center without a community, so in order to truly address what the Sanctuary needed, I asked around.
One of the most important aspects of this project and the thesis as a whole was the necessity for it to have the voices of others (especially of different gender presentations) behind it, to truly capture holistic and humanistic design for those who are not often factored into the decision-making process. In seeking to find those who might give that feedback I started local in Ann Arbor and asked local performers at Drag Venues what might benefit them and what their associations with religion and gender happened to be. Post-interview (both Google Docs and Zoom were used) I asked if there were others who might have wished to also have the survey conducted on them. That expanded the reach to Detroit and Chicago and extended outwards to Los Angeles and Boston, making the perspectives even greater than I would have hoped.
Each takeaway was vital in the conception of the final look of the model’s scenes and the proposal’s facilities and services. Some individuals spoke on the necessity of proper lighting and sound while others emphasized that the church should feel welcoming in its provision of food or clothing. Even further investigation showed that the space should not only have performance venue capabilities, but a historic component to ensure that those who come in get an experience of being part of something much bigger than they are. Each lesson I gleaned from the talks made me realize how many community-based projects don’t truly poll the needs of everyone.
You should reflect positivity into the world, and at the end of the day, you should like what you see reflecting back at you, and if not… Drag It Up and look again.
As a cap off to the didactic nature of the pop-up book, each of the booklets actually came with its own eyeshadow pallet/makeup brush kit so that others could try their hand at making over something. I thought this would tie well into the Drag Aesthetic that was established both in the church and by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to begin with. This was also an aspect of “The Transformed” which I spoke on in the prior page regarding costuming for the thesis, those who are impacted by the church’s teachings and are capable of spreading the word to others. By having the tools necessary to make yourself over, you may also begin to understand the drag aesthetic a bit better, and that would be the hope moving forward.
There is also a compact mirror on the opposite side of the kit, and that is an important part of the Sister’s wardrobe, implemented by Sister Missionary Position, as a means of reflecting back onto the world and spreading good faith and acceptance to everyone. By having these elements present in each of the booklets, the people reading them and receiving the gift of drag and drag history, I am continuing the legacy of the Sisters in an intentional and educational manner. I hope to continue this service further into the future to make this plan and others that benefit underserved communities a reality.
The QR Code takes you to the Linktree that I set up for Sister R.C. Texture, which includes the entire performance of the project, the thank you note for everyone who participated or played a hand in making the project come to fruition, the full interviews, and even the walkthrough of the Pop-Up Book. I also included the reference library of books and media I watched when coming up with the project. Enjoy!