‘Buy a dress at The Gap, define consciousness, and come out to your dad a second time.’

Theatre artists Niky Crawford and Jessie McCarty explore gender and identity alongside 'the explanatory gap’, a philosophical concept that illustrates one’s inability to connect physical phenomena to the ineffable first-person characteristics of a feeling (known as ‘qualia’).

This performance aims to eff the ineffable, drawing parallels between experiences of gender and consciousness while exploring The Gap clothing brand and its attempt to bridge the generational gap by way of choreographed commercials, men’s Levi's, and narratives surrounding linen.

All Niky and Jessie need to do is objectively understand what it means to feel, to want, and to be. The challenge is whether or not they can do it without using the word ‘cool’.

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Niky Crawford (they/she) is an artist and performer in Chicago, IL. They have made audio tours for public parks, interactive flyers for covidian connection, and recently produced the Milking The Beast and Going To Hell festival.

Jessie McCarty (they/them) is a writer and cataloger exploring modes of LGBTQ folklore and new media. They are Co-Artistic Director of The Runaways Lab Theater and the new Managing Archivist of Minicine Cinema in Shreveport, LA. McCarty has written two chapbooks related to Irish and Southern folklore, titled The Bovine Huff (2021) and Our Fairy Diary (2023). They have performed research practices at Illinois Wesleyan University, Links Hall, The Center for Fiction, and more.