SLAMDANCE
“If I was black and normal I’d still get fucked with, so I might as well do what I want to do and just take my chances.”
-Marlon Whitfield in Another State of Mind (1984)
SLAMDANCE relishes in the absurdity of the stories we tell to explain Black people’s participation in their own culture. In sound, video, and performance, the project considers various attempts at defining Afropunk, traces the social shape of the pit, and advocates for the radical possibilities of vastly over and under-explaining the historical origins Black punks.
SLAMDANCE garage, 2021
The Performing Garage
Written and performed by Ian Askew
featuring additional text and music by Nina Simone and Drexciya
created in collaboration with Gabby Preston and Cheyanne Williams
with support from David Glista, Andres Abenante, Camila Ortiz, Monika Wundrer, Matt Moran, Kamal Nassif, Claire Dickson, Kaneza Schaal, and Christopher Myers.
This project was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.
Presented as part of Towards A New Collectivity: The Performing Garage in partnership with Kaneza Schaal
SLAMDANCE TV, 2021
The Kitchen Video Viewing Room
SLAMDANCE workshop, 2019
Arts @ 29 Garden
created in collaboration with Gabby Preston with support from James Stanley and Andrew Gitchel.
upcoming
