The Problem of the Negrophiliac. Moving image Installation, 6 channel video, muslin, black acrylic. 2019

 

Navigating my black body through assemblies of white filled spaces. Party lights distort the room, turning faces from shadow to light then back again, but my face remains shadow. Hands reached towards me, touching my hair, my face, my skin. Trying to take me a part and put me back together like I’m puzzle pieces they could ever understand. Comparing my skin to whatever brown foods they can think of, describing my own hair to me, turning my body into a performance for their enjoyment. But my body, my being, my existence is not performance, nor toy, nor food.

 

“The Problem of the Negrophiliac” is a video installation piece that combines music, spoken word and video to create an interactive and confrontational experience for the viewers. The piece uses voyeurism to express the forced performance/zoo-like approaches of and to black bodies in predominantly white social settings.