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Jocelyn Foye | Long Beach, California | artist website In ID Me, 2006, sculpture and installation artist Jocelyn Schneider Foye cleverly subverts institutional authority by using the Department of Motor Vehicles (a state government institution) state issued drivers’ license as a template for Gender ID cards. This installation includes a group of randomly generated Gender Identification Cards made into a kilt and placed on a mannequin to demonstrate how the kilt should be worn. The mannequin is also dressed in a t-shirt with a clear chest pocket designed to hold one gender card. Any of the Gender ID cards can be taken off the kilt and placed in the shirt pocket where it will be visible until changed by the wearer at random. The wearer is able to engage with gender as a flexible system, “choosing” and “doing” gender, then “undoing” or changing gender at will. According to Schneider Foye, the drivers’ license is the only state issued physical identifier. Drivers are required by law to carry a license that describes the driver according to specific physical markers such as the driver’s picture, gender, hair color, eye color, height, and weight. Additional information includes the driver’s name, address, and date of birth. Most of the physical markers are changeable, as is the photo, but it is taken for granted that gender is not changeable and that there are only two choices, one is either male or female, a fact that should also agree with the physical characteristics of the photo on the license. By subverting the authority of the drivers’ license, Schneider Foye challenges the simple two-gendered system through the creation of “Gender Identification Cards” that allow for individuals to identify and put on their gender depending on their mood. Jocelyn Schneider Foye is currently finishing her M.F.A. at California State University, Long Beach. - by Karen Roberts  Jocelyn Foye ID Me, 2006 plastic, metal |