Mees Elias (he/they; 1995) is a queer, trans* artist, curator, and sex worker. In their work, they focus on the queer body as a political battleground: a place where normativity is dismantled and where vulnerability, eroticism, and pleasure are used as forms of resistance and emancipation.
“I ain’t got time for self-disgust no-more” is a experimental live performance by Mees Elias that takes about 10 minutes, during which the performer is largely naked. Stripped naked, without protection, he literally opens himself up to the curious, judgmental, and fetishizing gazes of the outside world. Simultaneously, he slowly licks, caresses, and eats a life-size pink chocolate replica of his own vulva, in an increasingly provocative and sensual manner, while continuing to stare intently into the eyes of his audience.
Where trans* people typically feel uncomfortable under societal gazes and judgments, Mees reverses the roles in this performance. With this radical act of bodily re-appropriation, Mees confidently, sexily, and courageously provides his audience with the sense of discomfort he so often endures.