Bodies that Monetize

Bodies that Monetize is an exhibition and thesis document that investigates the harms caused to Indigenous bodies and how they address such harms in the Canadian state. The document identifies how the Canadian state perpetrates harms to Indigenous bodies through the TransCanada Mainline. I argue that the Mainline causes boil water advisories and results in the creation of what Mbembe coins, “death-worlds” and what I call “harms” caused to Indigenous bodies. Indigenous bodies resist these violences by utilizing the horror genre for artistic expression, the practice of hauntings and ghosting, and the gendered use of resentment. My own method of resisting this violence includes making memes to utilize their ability to display the intangible and detongue the unspeakable. This includes discussions on mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. Through the process of creating these memes as a method of resistance, my exhibition highlights the struggles of Indigenous bodies