Feminist and Antiracist Science and Technology Studies
Professor and department head of Rensselaer's Science and Technology Studies program, Nancy Campbell, will hold her graduate seminar Feminist and Antiracist Science and Technology Studies in EMPAC's Studio Beta. The course is a part of the university's Art_x program, which is a teaching and learning initiative that is designed for Rensselaer students discover the connections that exist between art, science, and technology. EMPAC curators Vic Brooks and Ashley Ferro-Murray will develop a small series of workshops around course topics with artists Anaïs Duplan and Edisa Weeks.
Anaïs Duplan is a trans* poet, curator, and artist. Duplan’s recently published essay collection Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture (Black Ocean, 2020) employs vivid descriptions of the action of artworks—or ekphrastic technique—to explore the aesthetic strategies employed by artists of color working with digital technologies. At EMPAC, Duplan will be expand Blackspace’s approach to lyric poetry, criticism, and interviews through a series of radio-events inspired by music and artworks that seek to “pursue liberatory possibility.”
Proposed book cover. Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture.
Edisa Weeks is a Brooklyn, NY based choreographer, educator and director of DELIRIOUS Dances. Weeks is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work integrates theater, dance, food, discussions, music, and visual illustrations to create interactive performance experiences. She has presented in venues ranging from Dixon Place to the Guggenheim Museum, and has also performed in swimming pools, senior centers, sidewalks, storefront windows, and various living rooms. Weeks is currently developing three interactive performance rituals titled 3 RITES: Life, Liberty, Happiness. At EMPAC, she will design an environmentally sustainable set of plastics for Life. The rite will explore various structures for the support and dismantling of life.
3 RITES: Life, 2019. IMAGE: Courtesy the artist.
Workshop Schedule
All times are EST
- The following workshops will all take place in Studio Beta and be viewable for Rensselaer students online. More info TBA. Please contact the box office and provide your RIN if you are interested.
- FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 at 5PM
- WORKSHOP / POETRY
- Anaïs Duplan
- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4 at 5PM
- WORKSHOP / DANCE
- Edisa Weeks
Main Image: Anaïs Duplan's Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture and Edisa Weeks' THREE RITES: Life, 2019. Images Courtesy the artists.
Season
EMPAC Fall 2020 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts; and Vlaamse Gemeenschap, department of Culture, Youth, and Media. Additional project support by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; New Music USA; CCS Bard; Creative Capital; the Graham Foundation; and the National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan.