Moments of disorientation are vital. They are bodily experiences that throw the world up, or throw the body from its ground. – Sara Ahmed, Queer Phenomenology, p. 157

Through the artwork of KC Adams, Evergon, Rosalie Favell, Ekene Emeka Maduka, Yasumasa Morimura, and Kara Walker, we see how disorientation uniquely affects the body, conceptions of self in society, and each other. Curated by Grace Braniff, WAG-Qaumajuq Assistant Curator.

Disorientation can be an effect of social, cultural, and physical forces that push and pull us in unintended and unpredictable directions. It leaves us with an uncanny feeling that we are out of place, have lost our bearings, or that our environment has been made strange. Disorientation is not inherently good or bad — it can be liberating, enlightening, alienating, or unsafe. It may creep up slowly or crash against us abruptly, but it is always a heightened emotional and physical experience.