je me vois, donc je suis Claude Cahun
	<snip>   individualism? narcissm? of course. it is my strongest tendency, the only intentional constancy I am cabable of... besides I am lying; I scatter myself too much for that.   <snip>
	sans arret: inventing herself anew in a stunning body of work ("under this mask, another mask. i will never be finished wearing all those masks."). exposing gender as a mere series of conventions by adopting various (theatrical) disguises. her extraordinary facial features, shaven head and bold expression: she is the queen of mis-en-scene gender performance! granted. a true heroine.
	<snip> from life I still expect that overwhelming experience <snip>
	androgynous polymorphy, playful with identities, a gender free pseudonym, brazen tooldyke-tomboyish crossdressing attitude: the "ambiguity of femininity in the prison-house of gender" is Cahun's battlefield, where she excessivly expressed herself both artistically and in public spheres.   performance and highly gifted visual artist, visionary poetess* & engaged writer**, feminist and political rebel: Claude Cahun and her lady-lover were threatened to be sentenced to death during the nazi regime and yet did not submit. a free spirit who was extraordinary amongst surrealist artists of that time, Claude Cahun wrote for a number of publications, including L'amitè, a homosexual review magazine.
	<snip>   My opinion about homosexuality and homosexuals is exactly the same as my opinion about heterosexuality and heterosexuals. All depends on individuals and circumstances. I claim a general freedom of behaviour.   <snip> (Claude Cahun, L'Amité, 1925)
	to my great suprise, her work has been lost and unrecognised by the (art-) world for decades, it's been just recently (late 1980s) that light is shed on these striking images, which shall not be missed.
	<snip>
the animal horror of all contact with my fellow creatures is as constant with me as with a cat.
	<snip>
	* in may 1930 a collection of essais, poetry, and diary entries illustrated with 10 plates feat. photomontages of her own work titled 'aveux non avenus' was published in collaboration with her life-long partner and fellow artist Susanne Malherbe (Marcel Moore), Carrefour Paris Editions    ** Claude Cahun also reported on the trials of Oscar Wilde (1895), published in Mercure de France.
	*** furthermore she translated, par ex., Haverlock Ellis' controversial writings on sexual characters into french, which "provides a detailed description and comparison of men and women based on published data on physical dimensions, senses, intellect, metabolism, psychology, and creativity" as well as it introduces a third sex, which is, in fact, intimately linked up with her own work. for more information, visit http://www.ftp.sbu.ac.uk/~stafflag/havelockellis.html
literary references	Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism, and Self-representation ed Whitney Chadwick, Mit press 1998 - In or Out of the Picture: Claude Cahun and Cindy Sherman by Katy Cline   Claude Cahun: Bilder ed Heike Ander/Dirk Snauwaert, Schirmer/Mosel 1997 exhibtion catalogue accompanied with essais by F.Leperlier, Laura Cottingham u.a., Wanderausstellung 1997 Deutschland, Graz etc. http://www.sime.com/neue_galerie/cahun/bio.html   Mis en Scene: Claude Cahun, Tacita Dean, virg Nimarkoh London ICA, 1996   Claude Cahun: Masks and Metamorphoses Francois Leperlier/Liz Heron, Blackwell Verso, 1997 first-ever detailed biography
online resources	for more gorgeous pics and life-story have a look at http://vinland.org/scamp/Cahun/index.html    short bio+more details on writings, good bibliography http://ftp.sbu.ac.uk/~stafflag/claudecahun.html