M4C Logo AHRC Logo

Leo Robinson

University of Warwick

Thesis title:

Constructing a Digital Body Online Video and the Aesthetics of Trans Self-Representation

My project will provide an analysis of the self-representation of transgender and non-binary bodies in online digital video. It will intervene into academic research into digital cinema, glitch aesthetics and trans digital communities, examining how trans artists navigate platform-specific aesthetics to mediate images of the body online. It will interrogate the processes involved in creating fluid representations that allow for liberatory expression detached from the material body. The project will analyse a breadth of case studies from music videos, to online-hosted multimedia works, to short-form video on TikTok and YouTube. The project will respond to urgent questions surrounding the political vitality of using social media for forming trans communities and creating subversive art, particularly in light of transphobic rhetoric and restrictive regulations on platforms like X and Facebook. 

Research Area

Other Research Interests

  • Online video
  • Queer and trans representation in online spaces
  • Queer and trans theory
  • Representations of the body on screens
  • Digital cinema