Everything He Is is an interactive installation that invites visitors to explore the fluid and multifaceted nature of masculinity. At its center hangs a punching bag – an object traditionally associated with strength, aggression, and resilience. Yet in this space, it becomes a tool for reflection and discovery. As visitors push, pull, or strike the bag, they activate a dynamic archive of 168 AI-generated images that reveal unexpected and intimate portrayals of men; moments of tenderness, vulnerability, care, and candid emotion.
Masculinity is not a set of traits, but the sum of every action, every impulse, every moment. It is not something to prove, contain, or define. In this space, it moves.
Everything He Is challenges the rigid expectations placed upon men, revealing the quiet moments of care, intimacy, and emotion often hidden beneath the weight of societal norms—moments that have been reimagined and brought to life through AI-generated imagery.
At the centre of the installation, a punching bag hangs – not as an object of aggression, but as an instrument of exploration. Every push, pull, and strike shifts the archive, revealing, concealing, and reshaping the narrative. The weight, the resistance, the momentum – all echo the forces that shape and challenge masculinity itself.
It asks: What do we expect masculinity to be? Who decides? What happens when we stop trying to shape it? And how does it move when no one is holding it still?
“Dancing with Costică" by Jane Long A reimagined historical archive that blends past and present, breathing new life into old photographs through playful reinterpretation.
“Future Perfect” by Maksym Kozlov A speculative visual archive imagining possible futures, blending realism with dream-like qualities.
“Sonder” by Adam Lin A deeply personal archive that documents men in moments of quiet reflection, care, and emotional presence.
The project began not with masculinity, but with a broader investigation into photographic archives as cultural memory. We explored collections across a range of themes, geographies, and eras, focusing on image-making as a tool for constructing identity. Over time, our attention narrowed to archives and bodies of work that challenged normative representations of men – work that revealed emotional, contradictory, and vulnerable dimensions of masculinity.
We drew inspiration from photographers like Nan Goldin, Martin Parr, Kamila K. Stanley, and Senta Simond. Their images offered a template for how masculinity could be re-seen – not as a set of traits, but as a spectrum of postures, gazes, and gestures.