The folds of desire

Drozynski, Charles

Abstract

The Fold is a piece written by Gilles Deleuze (1991) in which he writes of a plane of consistency that is a metaphysical representation of space. Once folded the plane symbolises the creation of relationships between two points of space be it physical or in many ways virtual. As such the fold functions as any architectural project orchestrating architectural elements in the design of systems through the inclusion and exclusion into that relation. This chapter examines how The Fold is played out in and through the gay subculture in leisure venues in London in political contexts. One of the two sites investigated in this chapter is the district of Soho for its manifestation of the habitual liberty with which its inhabitants perform the civic. Soho’s architecture and bar patrons foster a political contestation that has created a particular situation, ripe for inclusion, which dissents from the norm of London in its openness to gay bars and explicit sensuality. Arguably, this has introduced a creative way of participation in the civic and pushed the political agenda of equality in the country. Nonetheless, Soho has become increasingly commercialised and normalised because of ongoing gentrification. This rupture with the heritage of political signifiers carries a strong feeling of exclusion, which incited the bar patrons to counter the civic habituality through the architecture of sex clubs and dark rooms. The interface that signified this new frontier, dividing the interior and the civic came to represent this in an emblematic manifestation of implicitness and exclusion of the civic. Alongside The Fold, the chapter engages with this interface, inspired by Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of desire and Foucault’s concept of counter-conduct.

• Acceptance Date: Aug 31, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Civic Spaces and Desire
• ISBN: 9780815395263
• Keywords: LGBTQ, Soho, Deleuze, The Fold, Vauxhal
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1494066
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/Civic-Spaces-and-Desire/Drozynski-Beljaars/p/book/9780815395263
• Contract Date: Jul 2, 2019