John Shipman

Listening to Love: Next Time Can We Choose Our Gender?

John Shipman - Toronto, Canada

Multimedia Installation

Re-imagine your gender. On a gendRphone, select the sex and gender of a possible lover. Hear their words of love! Then check-out recent artifacts from the Museum of Gender Archaeology.

Listening to Love is an interactive installation offering Scotiabank Nuit Blanche visitors a chance to explore gender and sexuality. As parents, friends, or neighbours, we see gender and sex expressions that differ from our own. We witness struggles and sometimes injustice. This project uses simple means to present gender complexity. Out-of-date telephones, classic love songs, and old love poems give listeners a gentle nudge towards openness and empathy for the diverse choices that we all make in our search for love and understanding.

“When you are on the phone...you have no body.” – Marshall McLuhan

Parental guidance advised