The “Wir sind Schmutz”-project is based on research into the Queer liberation in early 1900s Germany. Part of the project was researching the subject at the Magnus Hirschfeld Archives in Berlin, where I was fascinated by the historical quest to “explain” homosexuality through scientific inquiry. This video, crafted from scans of a turn-of-the-century medical text, reveals the era’s relentless search for a physical root of queerness. As we examine these anatomical illustrations, we’re prompted to consider: what were they really looking for? And what does our own gaze reveal about our understanding of identity?