CUPID electric
I recently submitted a proposal for a continuation of THE ELECTRIC SLIDE + OTHER SACRED GEOMETRIES project. It felt right to document it here as a kind of manifestation tool. If you have suggestions, questions, or connections, please feel free to reach out via the CONTACT form below.
All love,
k(R)
THE ELECTRIC SLIDE + OTHER SACRED GEOMETRIES was first conceived as a community performance on National Dance Day, Saturday, July 27, 2019, at Bo Diddley Plaza. This day-long event is/was part of an ongoing project inspired by The Black Movement Library created by artist LaJuné McMillian, and the work of Professor Trent D. Williams, Jr., as realized through his film project BLACK STAINS, which is an exploration of Black male identity through choreography. In addition, the diverse threads of American social dance – The Electric Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, the Wobble, the Tootsie Roll, the Hustle, the Git Up, and other classic line dances – have served as a call to action, empowering Gainesville residents through movement and highlighting the importance of preventative care. This event previously elicited collaborative partnerships/sponsorships with The UF Center for Arts in Medicine, The City of Gainesville, RTS-Gainesville Mobility, and 352 Creates.
And so, I propose a two-year, multi-pronged approach for movement-as-medicine. Utilizing the relationships indicated above, I suggest transforming the data collected by motion capture technologies (via line dancing events) into auditory and abstract visual materials. Based on the aural research of Dr. Kyla McMullen (Computer & Information Science & Engineering - The University of Florida) we can translate movement, sonically. Imagine dance (any movement, actually) represented in various tones, responsive in real-time. Much in the same way that https://patatap.com/ has assigned sounds to various buttons on a computer keyboard, we can assign angles/tempo/spatial positioning to particular sounds. And, To facilitate a more visual representation of movement, the data could easily correspond to RGB or CMYK codes creating a digital color field “painting” – screen printed, 3-D printed, and/or collaged according to Artificial Intelligence mapping courtesy of Darius Brown (Digital Worlds - University of Florida).
Year One (Spring 2023) suggests a collaboration with Alachua County 5th graders transitioning into middle school and continuing into their 6th-grade year and culminating in a second presentation for Summer 2024. Aided by the expertise of Dr. Jillian Hernandez (Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women's Studies Research - University of Florida) we would explore the methodologies of her work with WOMEN ON THE RISE to inform an approach that is decidedly gendered while encouraging the practice of student leadership. THE ELECTRIC SLIDE + OTHER SACRED GEOMETRIES, established as an esteem-building tool, exists as a seed planted to nurture the manifestation of personal autonomy, and intergenerational generational communication while serving as a site for supplemental curriculum supported by the School Board of Alachua County.
I’ve continued to pursue wellness both as a studio practice and praxis for operating in my community. I have contributed to the graphic marketing of The Center for Arts and Medicine (UF College of The Arts), contributed to the Remote Cultures Conversation Series: Artists Performing Public Health in 2020, and consider this project as an opportunity to combust the imposed hierarchies that insist upon Black, Brown, Disabled, and Poor communities as primary recipients of mainstream goodwill. I insist that these communities are empowered actors in their own well-being and capable practitioners of care. Healthcare shouldn’t be a matter of race or class, nationality or creed; rather it is the beauty of a shared human experience that we all can access.
STATEMENT OF WORK
The project will be executed in 4 distinct phases; with culminating public events at Phase 2 (Summer 2023) and Phase 4 (Summer 2024). I suggest a partnership with Williams Elementary and/or Littlewood Elementary based on their proximity to Lincoln Middle School and Westwood Middle School, respectively. Partnership with UF Digital Worlds along with funding from the State of Florida Division of Arts and Culture could support two teaching artists to facilitate workshops serving 5th-grade students for Phase 1 (Spring 2023) and continue those workshops for 6th-grade students (Spring 2024).
PHASE 1 (Spring 2023)
Two teaching artists will be assigned to two elementary schools within Gainesville city limits. Each teaching artist will design a 10-session workshop with the goal of developing/collecting sonic and visual material. Fifth-grade students will be introduced to motion capture technologies, interactive computing, vernacular choreography (i.e. Line Dance), sound recording collection, and photography as artistic modes of production.
PHASE 2 (Summer 2024)
A public event, THE ELECTRIC SLIDE + OTHER SACRED GEOMETRIES will invite the Gainesville community to participate in a celebration of movement. Held at the centrally located Bo Diddley Plaza, motion capture stations will document movement of participants while large-scale projections and amplified sound will respond in real-time. Individuals will be able to make soundscapes and abstract color field portraits with data from their own movement. Materials developed by students in Phase 1 will figure prominently as the rubric for interactive digital programming.
PHASE 3 (Spring 2024)
Two teaching artists will be assigned to two middle schools within Gainesville city limits. Each teaching artist will design a 10-session workshop with the goal of developing/collecting sonic and visual material. Sixth-grade students will be introduced to motion capture technologies, interactive computing, vernacular choreography (i.e. Line Dance), sound recording, and photography as artistic subjects. In addition, one group of students will work collectively to record a 2-minute song, which will then serve as the soundtrack for a line dance choreographed by the complementary cohort of students.
PHASE 4 (Spring 2024)
A public event, THE ELECTRIC SLIDE + OTHER SACRED GEOMETRIES will invite the Gainesville community to participate in a celebration of movement. Held at the centrally located Bo Diddley Plaza, motion capture stations will document movement of participants while large-scale projections and amplified sound will respond in real-time. Individuals will be able to make soundscapes and abstract color field portraits with data from their own movement. Sound and choreography developed by students in Phase 3 will figure prominently as the rubric for interactive digital programming, as well as branded/marketed/archival materials for the event. Social media challenges and/or virtual environments designed by students will also be a central component.