With queer spaces shrinking at a dramatic rate, artist Lucy Hayhoe’s installation invites you on a night out for one and asks: what makes a place gay?
“A gay bar is worth something different to a gay person,” says Lucy Hayhoe, “than a pub is to a straight person.” Responding to the rapid closure of queer spaces over the last decade, the London-based live artist has created a new installation which fits an entire gay bar into a space little larger than a telephone box. “Don’t worry,” Hayhoe says about One In, One Out: Leeds’ Smallest Gay Bar, “there is room to dance.”
Designed for one audience member at a time, the experiential installation offers a five-minute night out in minuscule proportions. A bouncer takes your coat, offers you a drink, and welcomes you into the tiny, shiny space. Presented at Compass festival in Leeds, the piece reflects on the shrinking of queer spaces, and what exactly makes a place gay, if not for the clientele. “Part of what I was interested in exploring was how spaces shape identity,” Hayhoe says. “Are we queer in relation to other people, or can we be queer by ourselves and on our own?”
