Butch’s Matchbooks are manufactured ephemeral art objects with identifying information which emulate nightclub matches, travelling through queer networks and populating in collections with other intimate or sentimental objects. “Butch’s” is a made up place, but it provokes queer networks and nightclubs of now and the past, and the title often evokes giggles or flirtations from those receiving matchbooks. These matchbooks were created to be distributed in conjunction with the 2023 exhibition “Object Drag: Mancrafts in the Garage,” but continue to be handed out (always for free) at various venues, such as the Shortrun Comix Festival and local bars, where the name and logo often evoke a smile from queer viewers.
March 2023 - Ongoing
Butch’s Matchbooks
Matchbooks in Sally's studio, Anchorage AK
Matchbooks in Candace & Tyler's home, Minneapolis, MN
Matchbooks at The Blue House Arts, next to a fishing decoy sculpture by Rosario Parker Gordon. Dayton, OH
Matchbooks in Sarah's woven basket in her home. Holland, MI.
Butch’s Matchbooks are meant to be given away for free; in this exchange they create an intimate connection with viewers. The matchbooks live in your pocket, they share a cigarette with you (or between you and a lover). I am told that often their new owners will keep their matchbooks in a special designated place, with other art-adjacent objects or simply somewhere where they will be within easy reach to light a candle.
March 2023 - Ongoing