Upcoming Screenings Online/Week of July 5th

Top Picks for Art Online Week of July 5th

Free, White and 21 (1980) by Howardena Pindell
ICA Boston/ Online
Ongoing/Free

Howardena Pindell speaks frankly to a camera about her encounters with racist aggressions she experienced throughout her life from childhood through adulthood. Her white-faced counterpart refutes her perception with blatant disregard: "You know you really must be paranoid those things never happen to me..." Shot on video, the piece is unnerving, a slight static-y glitch skirts the bottom adding to the unease, a mild warp to the screen echos the unsettling truths that Pindell speaks. The film also questions the biases in art itself, a recognition of how the intention of a work and the reading of a work are formed by one's own personal knowledge, how dominant cultures can measure one's success: "if your symbols aren't used in a way that we use them then we won't acknowledge them." This is a must-watch.

↔

[Alien] Star Dust (2019) by Victoria Vesna
Harvestworks/Online 
July 7, 2020@2pm (PTD)
RSVP via Leonardo the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology

This piece premiered at the Natural History Museum in Vienna on the cusp of the Covid-19 lockdowns, this presentation is an online version meant to be viewed while home in isolation. The piece is a guided meditation of sorts that will take viewers through the cosmos of space dust, connecting human beings to their primordial matter, reminding of the imperceptible yet awe-inspiring specks of space, humanity and earth that constantly move amongst one another. The sound in this piece adds to the meaning as a layered collage of space noise, ambient noise, cultural expressions, and radio waves of unknown origin emanate out into the world-- headphones suggested. In this piece, the interconnectivity of people and planets becomes reduced to invisible, tiny bonds, a theme made even more powerful during a viral pandemic of potentially deadly droplets.

↔

Cincinnati Goddamn (2015) by April Martin and Paul Hill
Wexner Center for the Arts/Now: Film/Video
June 1-July 9, 2020/Free

Cincinnati Goddamn deals with the multiple killings of African American men at the hands of police officers in Cincinnati, Ohio: 15 people were killed from 1995-2001. By focusing on two specific murders, that of Roger Owensby Jr. and Timothy Thomas, the film shows the spectrum of responses and personal experiences-- a conglomerate of media coverage, interviews with victim's families, witnesses recounting disturbing memories, journalists and scholars weighing in, wrenching police officer accounts. The stripped-down nature of the film's construction (interviews, news footage, a soundtrack to provide tension and emotional nudges) allows for individual stories to tell that of a collective, slowly building an intricate structure of history and abuse that lead towards a slight hope found in reform. The story of the film is, unfortunately, familiar but it is the achingly personal aspects that cause a viewer to sink deeply into it, a glaring memorial of lives lived, lost and forever changed.

↔

King of Arms Art Ball (Annual) by Rashaad Newsome
LACMA Art + Technology Lab, SOMArts Cultural Center, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art/ 
Youtube Live
July 10, 2020@8pm EDT/Suggested Donation
Pre-Recorded, Live Zoom Judging + Virtual Dance Party

House-ballroom has a long history of acceptance, change and passion-- a vehicle that moves far beyond death drops. Artists Rashaad Newsome has staged the King of Arms Art Ball since 2013, using the art of vogue to move through themes of imagination and power. The purpose of the event is for performers to embody the creativity of others, to transcend beyond vogue as a means of self-expression and show how movements can be used to express or ignite movements, as Newsome says "How do we decolonize our imaginations? How do we use them in the service of our own well-being or as a form of resistance?" This year's categories include a nod to work by artist Barkley L. Hendricks and a Shade Competition highlighting improvisation. Prior to July 10th, contestants submitted applications to compete, the lineup was chosen and performances, interviews and show preparation were pre-recorded to be rolled out via social media leading up to the event. A panel will view and judge live performances via Zoom, along with digital backgrounds made by Newsome, a live DJ, an afterparty-- there is a lot going on, details here!

↔

The Protest T-Shirt Store II (2020) by Various Artists
Hester Street Fair/Online
July 1-15, 2020/$40 per made to order shirt
"All purchases benefiting organizations that are fighting racism and improving the lives of Black and Indigenous people." BLM, NY/ACLU/Innocence Project

I think I got hooked on art t-shirts via Sonic Youth band t-shirts in my youth, unknowingly sporting Pettibon, wishing to own a piece of Richter or Mike Kelley. Mainly due to lack of fund$ I only buy them when in support of a cause or artist worth supporting or when the message is one I feel the need to subversively strap onto my body while walking around small Missouri towns ("Abuse of Power Comes As No Surprise" or Planned Parenthood anything). This gallery of meaningful art t-shirts is the second installment of Hester Street Fair's Protest T-Shirt Store, featuring a wide range of artists and designers and a wide range of messages and movements. From Zach Grear to Elise McMahon, these shirts, literally, make the perfect statement.

↔

Please send recs for upcoming weeks to: donnak3[at]gmail[dot]com