Can a penis be relieved of its supposed maleness—mere flesh in a psychic void?

Façadomy is a new publication that explores themes in contemporary identity through the lenses of art, architecture, and social science. It’s inaugural issue, Gender Talents, is currently in the midst of a crowdsourcing campaign on Kickstarter.

Gender Talents explores the landscape of self-determined gender. It builds off the work of progressive sexologist Esben Esther P. Benestad, who has observed seven distinct genders in their practice as a therapist in Norway. Three prominent voices in contemporary art and architecture reflect on these seven themes, intersecting gender with notions of performativity, race, sexuality, and the built environment.

Andreas Angelidakis, an architect and curator based in Athens, imagines each gender through avatars which take the unlikely form of buildings and esoteric furniture. These examples from the built environment weave human-scale metaphors that draw parallels between contemporary ruins and the sinking regimes of traditional masculine/feminine dynamics.

Supporting this campaign funds the mass production of Gender Talents and helps to proliferate a deeper understanding of gender in the 21st century. Knowledge is the only weapon we have against the adversity and violence that people outside of the gender majorities face on a daily basis. This reality only worsens when it’s compounded by sexuality, class and race Slogans and buzzwords are an important part of activism, but can only serve as the gateway to rich political ideas that warrant further consideration from curious minds.