my singular being. I wondered about the reception of amongst a diverse collective: how would it function in a group exhibition presented by Visual AIDS? How would it function alone? “Art without an impact is useless,” Long said at one point. For years, Long’s artistic drive was secondary to his activist drive. He opted for community action, moving towards directness in favor of the abstraction and self-indulgence some art can get or participate in it.” Long’s alternative to “art for art’s sake” is to “make art that creates safety.” Safe spaces – conceptual spaces, but also actual physical spaces—where the necessary dialogue that needs to take place for queer people, including those who are HIV-positive, are not happening. If Grindr’s “Clean” is making absent the healthy, honest conversation about HIV necessary in the queer community, maybe Long’s recreation of , made of wood, yarn, nails and used video booth
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