LA-A CONSORTIUM, 2014-2018
Performed at ICA and New Cities /Future Ruins
Photo Credit: David Riley, Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University
Design Collaborator: Nontsikelelo Mtuti
https://pulitzerarts.org/program/dwell-in-other-futures-art-urbanism-midwest/
The La-a Consortium is a text activated through performance. The futuristic text imagines a series of prominent institutions across a number of fields, named in ways that reflect the diverse contributions of African-American citizenry in the 20th century. The text uses Black creative naming practices to identify new foundations in a post-oppressive future. The performance is staged in the form of a formal (but impromptu) meeting to reflect a new radical governing body. One of the ways it demonstrates its progress is by creating new greeting rituals such as rubbing the back of someone's head.