Andrea Abi-Karam: Villainy

In order to live through the grief of the Ghost Ship Fire and the Muslim Ban, ‘Villainy’ foments political action in public spaces, and indexes the various emotional states, such as rage, revelry, fear, grief, and desire to which queers must tend during protest. In scenes loaded with glitter, broken glass, and cum, Abi-Karam insists that in order to shatter the rising influence of new fascism we must embrace the collective work of antifascists, street medics, and queer exhibitionists and that the safety that we risk is reckless and necessary. Disruptive and demanding, these punk poems embody direct action and invite the audience into the desire-filled slippage between public sex and demonstration. At heart, ‘Villainy’ aims to destroy all levels of hierarchy to establish a participatory, temporary autonomous zone in which the targeted other can thrive.