The Electric Fence exhibition came to the Usher Gallery in February, but when the gallery closed in March so did access to the exhibit, stopping “The Changing of the Flags” from being changed.
Annabel McCourt, the Grimsby artist behind the exhibit, designed twelve flags which are either on display on the Usher Gallery’s roof or inside with the rest of the exhibit. McCourt had planned a sequence for the changing of the flags so that each design could be seen on a walk past the gallery in Lincoln.
The main spectacle in the exhibition is the Electric Fence which blasts sounds of construction and of the original homophobic hate speech that inspired the art piece when a wire is touched. The art exhibit also includes a neon sign which reads: “Happy hour in the harmful factory” in reference to feminism and popular culture.
Following the closure of the gallery, Annabel McCourt said: “I initially felt exceptionally depressed to lose the culmination of two-to-three years’ work.”
“However, the exhibition was always designed and curated in such a way to have an online presence.”
Workshops were carried out in February where the people of Lincolnshire talked about their own personal fences and barriers in the LGBTQI community, these stories were then added to McCourt’s website for everyone to hear.
If you click on the coloured flags you’ll hear the testimonies of four different people, including a poem about one person’s trans-status and what it means to them.
The histories behind the six black flags with different designs on each one are also included. For example, the flag with a black triangle explains its link with the concentration camps during World War II and homosexuality.
Although the exhibit ends in physical form at the gallery on May 10, the voices and stories behind the Electric Fence exhibit will remain online indefinitely.