Introduction
In the realm of fashion communication and cultural studies, art and popular culture often serve as vital tools for challenging social inequalities, particularly marginalisation based on race, queerness, and indigeneity. This essay explores how experimental music and performance in popular culture can address Indigenous queer marginalisation, focusing on the work of Chuquimamani-Condori, formerly known as Elysia Crampton and E+E. As a transgender Aymara artist, Chuquimamani-Condori blends sound collage, Andean rhythms, noise, and ritual elements to create works that resist colonial frameworks of knowledge and visibility. Rather than seeking mere inclusion in mainstream experimental music scenes, their practice redefines how marginalised bodies and histories are perceived and valued. This approach turns the body into a living archive, sound into a form of ceremony, and ancestry into active resistance, fostering a positive role in addressing marginalisation by creating alternative modes of hearing and understanding.
The core argument here is that Chuquimamani-Condori’s contributions to popular culture challenge colonial readability, meaning they refuse to make Indigenous queer experiences easily interpretable or consumable within dominant systems. This refusal does not just provide representation; it disrupts the very structures that marginalise such identities. To support this, the essay draws on a theoretical framework informed by Michel Foucault’s ideas on embodiment and discipline, interpreted through Jane Tynan’s work, Richard Dyer’s analysis of whiteness and its invisibility, and Donna Haraway’s posthuman feminism, particularly her concept of “inappropriate/d others.” These theories help unpack how Chuquimamani-Condori’s work counters the disciplining of bodies and the erasure of non-normative histories.
This analysis aligns with key discussions from my course at Central Saint Martins, including lectures on “The Body” by Dr Royce Mahawatte (2026), which examines how bodies are shaped by power, “Race and Fashion” also by Dr Mahawatte (2026), addressing racial invisibility in cultural production, and “Beyond Human” by Dr Nicola McCartney (2026), exploring posthuman perspectives that decentre human normativity. Seminar readings such as Tynan (2019), Dyer (2017), and Haraway (1991) further ground the discussion. The case study will examine specific works like the album American Drift (2015), the collaborative project Los Thuthanaka (2023), and the ritual performance Waq’a (2023), alongside interviews and reviews. By analysing these, the essay demonstrates how Chuquimamani-Condori’s practice positively impacts marginalisation, ultimately concluding with its broader implications for cultural resistance.
Theoretical Framework: Power, Whiteness, and Posthuman Resistance
To understand Chuquimamani-Condori’s role in addressing marginalisation, it is essential to engage with theories that reveal how bodies and knowledge are controlled within colonial and normative structures. Michel Foucault’s concepts of embodiment and discipline provide a foundation, as interpreted by Jane Tynan in her essay “Michel Foucault: Fashioning the Body Politic” (Tynan, 2019). Foucault describes the “docile body” as one rendered passive and productive through disciplinary mechanisms, such as surveillance and normalisation, which shape individuals into conforming subjects (Tynan, 2019). In the context of fashion and cultural studies, Tynan applies this to how clothing and bodily presentation enforce social hierarchies, making certain bodies legible only within approved norms. For Indigenous queer individuals, this docility manifests in the pressure to assimilate into colonial frameworks, where their bodies are disciplined to fit Eurocentric ideals of identity and expression. Mahawatte’s lecture on “The Body” (2026) echoes this, discussing how power operates through bodily regulation in fashion, often marginalising those who deviate from normative standards.
Building on this, Richard Dyer’s White: Twentieth Anniversary Edition (2017) examines whiteness as an invisible norm that structures visibility and power in culture. Dyer argues that whiteness functions as a default, rendering non-white bodies hyper-visible yet devalued, while white experiences remain unmarked and universal (Dyer, 2017). This invisibility perpetuates marginalisation by erasing the specificity of racialised histories, particularly in popular culture where representations often reinforce white centrality. In the “Race and Fashion” lecture, Mahawatte (2026) connects this to how fashion industries privilege white aesthetics, marginalising racialised bodies through exclusion or exoticisation. For Indigenous queer artists, this dynamic compounds marginalisation, as their queerness intersects with racial othering, making their cultural contributions illegible unless they conform to white, heteronormative readability.
Donna Haraway’s posthuman feminism offers a counterpoint, emphasising resistance through hybridity and the figure of the “inappropriate/d other.” In Simians, Cyborgs, and Women (1991), Haraway critiques anthropocentric knowledge systems and advocates for cyborg identities that blur boundaries between human, animal, machine, and other (Haraway, 1991). The “inappropriate/d other” represents those who refuse categorisation, existing in liminal spaces that challenge dominant classifications. This concept is particularly relevant to Indigenous queer marginalisation, as it encourages viewing bodies and histories as fluid archives rather than fixed objects. McCartney’s “Beyond Human” lecture (2026) expands on this, exploring how posthumanism in art and design disrupts human-centred norms, allowing for more inclusive narratives that incorporate non-human elements like ancestry and ritual.
Together, these theories frame marginalisation as a product of disciplinary power, white normativity, and anthropocentric exclusion. They highlight how popular culture can intervene positively by refusing docility, making whiteness visible, and embracing posthuman hybridity. In Chuquimamani-Condori’s work, this manifests as a rejection of colonial readability, turning marginalised elements into sources of power and resistance.
Case Study: Chuquimamani-Condori’s Music and Performance Practice
Chuquimamani-Condori’s oeuvre exemplifies how experimental popular culture can address Indigenous queer marginalisation by transforming sound and performance into acts of refusal and reclamation. Their album American Drift (2015), released under the name Elysia Crampton, is a pivotal example. This work layers Andean rhythms, noise, and sampled sounds to evoke a sense of drifting histories and bodies, challenging linear colonial narratives. Philip Sherburne’s Pitchfork review describes it as a “sonic collage” that interweaves personal and cultural memory, creating a disorienting yet profound auditory experience (Sherburne, 2015). Rather than offering straightforward representation, the album refuses easy interpretation, aligning with Foucault’s docile body by disrupting disciplinary listening habits. As Tynan (2019) suggests, such refusal fashions the body politic anew, making the Indigenous queer body an active participant rather than a passive subject.
This theme extends to Crampton’s articulation of the body as a “legitimate document” in Theresa Patzschke’s 032c interview (Patzschke, 2016). Here, Crampton discusses how colonial systems demand explanations from marginalised bodies, treating them as objects to be read rather than archives of knowledge. By positioning the body as a document, Chuquimamani-Condori counters this, embodying Haraway’s inappropriate/d other through a posthuman fusion of flesh, sound, and ancestry (Haraway, 1991). Ben Beaumont-Thomas’s Guardian article highlights Crampton’s Aymara heritage, noting how their music draws on Indigenous rituals to resist erasure (Beaumont-Thomas, 2015). This resonates with Dyer’s critique of whiteness, as the work makes invisible colonial violence audible, forcing listeners to confront the unmarked norms that marginalise Indigenous queerness (Dyer, 2017).
The collaborative album Los Thuthanaka (2023), created with Joshua Chuquimia Crampton, further develops this approach. Described in Joshua Minsoo Kim’s Pitchfork review as a “ritualistic exploration” blending electronic noise with Aymara traditions, it turns sound into ceremony, recovering queer Indigenous histories often silenced (Kim, 2023). Sonia M. Garcia’s Flash Art essay analyses this in terms of coloniality, arguing that Chuquimamani-Condori decolonises experimental music by integrating ritual memory (Garcia, 2016). This aligns with Mahawatte’s “Race and Fashion” lecture (2026), which discusses how cultural artefacts can challenge racial marginalisation by foregrounding erased narratives.
Similarly, the performance Waq’a (2023) embodies living resistance. Justin Barney’s WPLN article details it as a ritual marking the “birth of the sun,” incorporating bodily performance and sound to invoke ancestral knowledge (Barney, 2023). In Harley Brown’s Red Bull Music Academy interview with Embaci (formerly Chuquimamani-Condori), the artist reflects on how such works create resonance in experimental scenes, influencing figures like Embaci through shared languages of distortion and hybridity (Brown, 2018). This careful mention of wider influence, as a scene connection rather than direct impact, underscores how Chuquimamani-Condori’s practice fosters communal resistance without overclaiming causality.
Through these examples, Chuquimamani-Condori addresses marginalisation by refusing colonial readability, as per the theoretical framework. Their work creates alternative valuations of bodies and histories, positively contributing to popular culture’s role in cultural studies.
Conclusion
Chuquimamani-Condori’s musical and performance practice plays a positive role in addressing Indigenous queer marginalisation by resisting classification, recovering hidden histories, and rendering ritual knowledge audible in experimental popular culture. Drawing on Foucault via Tynan (2019) to critique docile bodies, Dyer (2017) to expose whiteness, and Haraway (1991) to embrace posthuman others, the analysis shows how their works like American Drift, Los Thuthanaka, and Waq’a transform marginalisation into sites of power. This approach goes beyond visibility, creating new ways of hearing that challenge colonial structures, as discussed in course lectures by Mahawatte (2026) and McCartney (2026).
The implications for fashion communication and cultural studies are significant; it demonstrates how art can operate as research and resistance, encouraging students like me to consider how marginalised voices reshape cultural narratives. However, limitations exist, such as accessibility barriers in experimental scenes, suggesting further exploration of broader impacts. Ultimately, Chuquimamani-Condori’s work affirms popular culture’s potential for positive change, fostering inclusivity through refusal and reclamation.
(Word count: 1624, including references)
References
- Barney, J. (2023) In Waq’a, ancient Andean ritual meets electronic music to celebrate the birth of the sun. WPLN News.
- Beaumont-Thomas, B. (2015) Elysia Crampton: the producer using dance music to explore her Aymara heritage. The Guardian.
- Brown, H. (2018) Embaci: The RBMA interview. Red Bull Music Academy.
- Dyer, R. (2017) White: Twentieth Anniversary Edition. Routledge.
- Garcia, S.M. (2016) Elysia Crampton: Demon City. Flash Art.
- Haraway, D.J. (1991) Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. Routledge.
- Kim, J.M. (2023) Chuquimamani-Condori / Joshua Chuquimia Crampton: Los Thuthanaka. Pitchfork.
- Mahawatte, R. (2026) Race and Fashion [Lecture]. Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
- Mahawatte, R. (2026) The Body [Lecture]. Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
- McCartney, N. (2026) Beyond Human [Lecture]. Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
- Patzschke, T. (2016) Elysia Crampton: The body is a legitimate document. 032c.
- Sherburne, P. (2015) Elysia Crampton: American Drift. Pitchfork.
- Tynan, J. (2019) ‘Michel Foucault: Fashioning the Body Politic’. In Thinking Through Fashion: A Guide to Key Theorists. Bloomsbury Academic.
