We Are But One: the aesthetics of radical transformation in The Pandrogeny Manifesto

Abstract

What if it were possible to fulfill the biblical imperative and make two bodies into one flesh? The Pandrogeny Project set out to explore this very question. Genesis P-Orridge, former vocalist of the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, and Lady Jaye, a nurse and dominatrix, made their relationship a permanent artistic project. A sexual-affective relationship was not enough for them; they desired to materialize their union in their bodies, merging into a single being: the pandrogyne. Inspired by the cut-up technique, they began the process of deconstructing their bodies to become more physically alike, undergoing plastic surgeries and dressing identically. Genesis, initially a cisgender man, underwent a transition to resemble Lady Jaye more closely. Without resorting to biological procreation, they created a third being: Breyer P-Orridge, the pandrogyne being. In dialogue with José Esteban Muñoz, Paul Preciado, and Donna Haraway, we intend to explore the possibilities and limits of this lived aesthetic, critically analyzing the video performance “The Pandrogeny Manifesto” (2006) as a primary source. The project consisted of a continuous performance that extended until the end of Lady Jaye's life (2007) and Genesis’s life (2020), and of the pandrogyne itself. This experience allows us to question: where does the performance end and life begin? Would they ever satisfy their desire for transformation and the radical negation of identity? Finally, even though we might question the objective conditions that made this experience possible, Breyer P-Orridge urges us to think about queer futures of a (new?) species no longer doomed to conformity.