Ecopoetics Along Shorelines

The concepts of incandescence and not-yet-here intertwine beautifully in Herko’s performance in Warhol’s film Haircut. The film itself, “extremely radical in 1963,” embodies the not-yet-here by showing overt queerness as quotidian (160). Herko used his incandescence to bring light to the taboo topics, “public drug consumption and flagrant, ludic nudity” (160). Herko’s incandescence naturally leads to the reveal of a not-yet-here that exists within (often undetected) communities outside of straight time, so a queer critique might view Herko as a window to an unspoken culture that existed, but those who participated were not typically as bold or illuminating as Herko.