Queer Clouds: Closing (virtual)

Wills

Rachel Paupeck joins Will and Eatough and Will Fryer for the closing of Queer Clouds, an exhibition of new work at Compere Collective.

For the closing event of the Queer Clouds exhibit, Rachel Paupeck will join Will Eatough and Will Fryer for a series of talks and roundtable discussion about clouds, vapor, and queer identity. To be held in the Compere Collective gallery in Red Hook, Brooklyn, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, Tuesday May 27, 2025.This event will be livestreamed. (For the in-person event RSVP here.)Compere Collective351 Van Brunt StBrooklyn, NY 11231 Queering Atmosphere: Humidity, Diffused Light, and the Erotic Potential of the InteriorRachel PaupeckThis paper explores humidity and diffused light as queer atmospheric conditions that disrupt normative expectations of comfort, hygiene, and spatial clarity within interior environments. Drawing on queer theory—especially the work of José Esteban Muñoz and Sara Ahmed—it reframes these elements as sensorial agents that foster slowness, softness, and porous relationality. Through case studies and speculative design proposals, it examines how vapor, mist, and light can be harnessed to produce erotically charged, ecologically responsive interiors. In doing so, the paper proposes atmosphere as a critical and political design tool rather than a passive environmental backdrop. Time and Dignity, Transience and TransformationWill EatoughThis talk traces a body of work developed during the pandemic, beginning as an escapist study and evolving into a meditation on time, transformation, and presence. I became focused on the time in which clouds exist (as opposed to the time in which we exist) and sought to give the clouds I was seeing an objecthood that is antithetical to their transitory existence. The cloud is, both in itself and a synecdoche for all forces of the natural world, sublime—and through prints, cyanotypes, and video, I engaged with it as a way to move forward when stillness seemed the only option. Vaporous BodiesWill FryerWhy are clouds queer? They are queer because they are fluid - always changing, never conforming. Clouds never stay fixed, they have no boundaries. They form the decorative ceiling of our world, and spark childlike wonder. They are intangible. As we perceive them, they are clear and bright. In reality, they are hardly there at all - only a change in density; floating vapor reflecting light. In this way clouds are like queer identity: always shifting, impossible to lock down, perceived clearly, but, ontologically, hardly there at all.Will Fryer will speak about clouds as a metaphor for queerness and the process of translating clouds as art objects. He will explain the motivations behind his work and the process of making the drawings, video and sculpture in Queer Clouds. PerformanceWill Eatough, Will FryerA mixed-media performance using projection to generate shifting, fluid forms. Talk-backRachel Paupeck, moderatorA chance for participants to offer thoughts, feedback and questions for the artists.

Agenda

This paper explores humidity and diffused light as queer atmospheric conditions that disrupt normative expectations of comfort, hygiene, and spatial clarity within interior environments. Drawing on queer theory—especially the work of José Esteban Muñoz and Sara Ahmed—it reframes these elements as sensorial agents that foster slowness, softness, and porous relationality. Through case studies and speculative design proposals, it examines how vapor, mist, and light can be harnessed to produce erotically charged, ecologically responsive interiors. In doing so, the paper proposes atmosphere as a critical and political design tool rather than a passive environmental backdrop.


Queering Atmosphere: Humidity, Diffused Light, and the Erotic Potential of...

This talk traces a body of work developed during the pandemic, beginning as an escapist study and evolving into a meditation on time, transformation, and presence. I became focused on the time in which clouds exist (as opposed to the time in which we exist) and sought to give the clouds I was seeing an objecthood that is antithetical to their transitory existence. The cloud is, both in itself and a synecdoche for all forces of the natural world, sublime—and through prints, cyanotypes, and video, I engaged with it as a way to move forward when stillness seemed the only option.

Time and Dignity, Transience and Transformation

Why are clouds queer? Clouds are queer because they are fluid—constantly shifting, never fixed, and always resisting boundaries. They drift overhead as the decorative ceiling of our world, sparking childlike wonder, yet remain intangible and ephemeral. What we perceive as bright, distinct forms are, in fact, little more than changes in density: floating vapor that reflects light. Like queer identity, clouds are always in flux—impossible to define, perceived with clarity, yet ontologically elusive.
In this talk, Will Fryer will explore clouds as a metaphor for queerness and discuss the process of translating them into art objects. He will share the motivations behind Queer Clouds and reflect on the making of its drawings, video, and sculptural components.

Vaporous Bodies

A mixed-media performance using projection to generate shifting, fluid forms.

Performance

Participants are invited to share thoughts, feedback and questions for the artists.

Talk Back

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Queer Clouds: Closing (virtual)

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Queer Clouds: Closing (virtual)

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