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Artist Bio
Artist Bio
Kris Blackmore is a Portland-based artist and designer who uses research-based methods to explore the intersections of culture, technology, and aesthetics. Her socially engaged work examines themes of language, gender performance, privacy, and consent through outputs that span digital and print media, illustration, moving images, interactive installations, essays, and curatorial projects.
Kris prefers to explore the creative process collaboratively— she does most of her work under the collective moniker Midgray. Her work has been exhibited at conferences and galleries in Rome, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, and Portland. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Art Farm in rural Nebraska and in the Conflict Resolution Department at Portland State University. Her artistic and educational work on sexual consent has received grants from the University of California. Kris holds an AA degree in fashion design from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and a BFA in graphic design from Portland State University.
Last Night
Last Night
2020
2020
Mixed media installation
Mixed media installation
This installation explores issues of sexual consent and assault and may be emotionally challenging for some visitors.
Last Night is a choosable-path work of young adult fiction that provides a safe place for teens to experiment with the boundaries of ethical sexual behavior. Readers navigate an archetypical college party scene and make decisions about consuming alcohol, pursuing hookups, and testing friendships. Sex is explored in scenes that reflect real-world scenarios in which consent is often assumed due to body language, shared histories, or physical proximity. There are 14 possible endings, some of which involve your character getting hurt or hurting others. This framework allows young people to explore the ways power can be experienced and wielded— a person might assume a great deal of power in one sexual encounter, but be made to feel powerless in another.
This story is borrowed from my life experiences and is based on primary research I have conducted with men about their views on consent. While I personally never had the traditional college experience, researchers Erica Boas, Jason Laker, Peggy Orenstein, Lisa Wade, Jennifer S. Hrisch, and Shaus Khan expanded my understanding of the pressures young people face from the media, their peers, and institutions to do college right— which includes hooking up a lot. This leads many students to believe that whatever amount of sex they are having is not enough and drives them toward risky sexual behavior. This pressure in conjunction with low literacy in regards to sexual health, consent, and pornography has created a public health crisis on campuses— a burden that is commonly carried by female students in their first six months of their college careers.
Last Night is a Midgray project created in collaboration with Simon Boas.
The Interactive Experience
The Interactive Experience
As part of the installation, viewers can navigate this online interactive experience and make decisions about consuming alcohol, pursuing hookups, and testing friendships. This interactive digital novella is a choosable-path work of young adult fiction that provides a safe place for teens to experiment with the boundaries of ethical sexual behavior.
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