Z-TOPIA (X) is an experimental edition of our regular programming where we try out new content, speakers and topics. At times, it is unstructured, untamed and unpredictable.
These editions are not always recorded or published
ZTOPIA - X: Sonic Futurity in the Black Diaspora
In ‘ZTOPIA - X Sonic futurity in the Black diaspora’ we will be exploring the notions of representation, narratives, memory and the archive through the mode of sound recognizing the importance of the sonic and how that gives us a practice and an entry point to redefine what ‘future’ is and sounds like. In doing so, it brings this ZTOPIA-X back into conversation with Dr. Marcella Ernest, Native American (Ojibwe) interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker and scholar whose ZTOPIA-X show aired on Jan 31 2020. Where her work spoke of modes of representation, abstract narratives and the archive. In this session we will be speaking with and hearing the work of (MINQ) (Demelza) (Melody) three sound and visual artists who are individually and collectively considering the role of sound and its relationship to the concept of futurity from a Black diaspora perspective and how this manifests. Melody takes the concept of the remix in her work and brings the archive into play through a sonic layering that attempts at articulating a sonic narrative that translates her own lived experience.
MINQ is interested in discovering how we can use sound, especially the voice, as a portal to the fundamental parts of ourselves, to authentic connection to one another and to different times and places. They have also been practising the invocation of queer, Black ancestors and believes our voices contain those voices who’ve come before us and are displayed in our thoughts, which become ideas, which become actions - merging the past, present and future. MINQ combines these concepts together in their work as a snapshot of where they’ve been, where they are and where they’re going…and with whom. Demelza presents an activation and re-animation of her text The Long Now in an effort to triangulate the relationship between futurity, blackness and the sonic. Using vocal manipulations such as delay, she causes the voice to break temporality – present in the past, present in the future. This temporal breaking adds a political dimension to the sound as it fails to accommodate a capitalist (deep) linear time and creates a noise and rhythm that forms an underscoring for the text. The text operates within non-linear conceptions of time through loops and repetition. The process becomes the action of listening and responding to the machine as time is manipulated. Here, noise functions as a strategy to render opacity. This Pluraversal approach via the sonic provides a jump of point to rethink futurity as it’s relations.
Artist Bios:
MINQ (they/them) is a Sound Artist, Sound Designer, DJ, Radio Presenter, Yoga and Mindfulness Instructor and independent researcher living in Berlin, Germany. Their current work, which is focused on sonic-somatic practises, aims to discover what lies at the intersection of mindfulness, movement and sound using Deep Listening practises, mindfulness exercises and vocal improvisation in a QTBIPoC-centred space. Through this work MINQ is developing workshops to be used as a resource in creative spaces as well as a community-building tool. MINQ's monthly radio show, Sonic Utopias on Refuge Worldwide is where they share musical inspirations as well as some of their original work.
Demelza (AKA Demelza Toy Toy) Woodbridge (she/her) is a London based artist and educator who predominantly works with performance, sound and collaborative practices to reflect upon systems of knowledge and the legacies of colonialism, to make work that initiates questions and in dialogue with conditions of the body. Demelza often juxtaposes elements of vulnerability and humour; time is a recurring theme in her work.
Melody Howse (She/her) is a researcher, visual artist and archive nerd who has been thinking about race, representation and the role of technology for the past few years. She is currently working on a PhD in Anthropology where her focus is the sensory experience of race and the role of the visual in the formation of the racial imaginary. Her interest in sound is part of this engagement with the senses.
Oct 29 7pPDT
ZTOPIA (X) - Umy’s Beautiful Lies 2
Join us for a magical edition of Z-TOPIA (X) with a special Halloween edition of Umy’s Beautiful Lies. Umy is a sleight of hand artist. His performance combines storytelling with card miracles inviting the audience to explore their perception of reality. Grab a cocktail and a deck of cards. You are in for a night of wonder.
Umy’s Beautiful Lies takes the audience on a journey to experience the impossible. The card magic show examines our perceptive limitation and what is the true life possibility.
It’s real magic.
Jan 31 11aPST
Marcella is a Native American (Ojibwe) interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker and scholar. She creates video art and soundscapes using poetic imagery and abstract narratives. Her award-winning pieces are screened and exhibited in museums, fine art galleries and film festivals globally.
Marcella uses a collision of electronic media, archival materials, found footage, sound design and photography to engage with relationships between memory and land. Her abstract filmmaking employs soundscapes, rhythm, multi-media installations, large-scale projections and experimental aesthetics to address critical issues of gender, sexuality and history.
As an artist and scholar, she examines how Native art makes critical interventions that are aesthetically and intellectually arranged with the intention of displacing master narratives. She received a PhD in American Studies at the University of New Mexico in 2020 documenting how film and photography – historically used by non-Native people as a tool of colonialism – are being reclaimed by the visual and sonic scholarship of contemporary Native artists. Marcella is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Native Voices MA program and obtained her BA in Ethnic Studies with a minor in film studies from Mills College.
Interview with Guggenheim Senior Curator Vivien Greene.: “Citizen of Nowhere”: A Conversation with Interdisciplinary Artist Marcella Ernest—Part 1
ZTOPIA (X) - Umy’s Beautiful Lies
Join us for a magical edition of Z-TOPIA (X) with Umy’s Beautiful Lies. Umy is a sleight of hand artist. His performance combines storytelling with card miracles inviting the audience to explore their perception of reality. Grab a cocktail and a deck of cards. You are in for a night of wonder.
“Designers and magicians are alike in a way that we both solve problems by concealing the complexity of the methods leaving the audience with only gratifying experiences. Not a lot of people know how Google Drive works but they enjoy finding their files on whichever devices they use. In magic, the magician can predict the future, restore broken objects, or make something float. It doesn’t matter how. It’s just magic. The main difference is the designer's magic solution becomes a part of their lifewhile magicians leave the audience wondering what else is possible beyond their understanding.” — UMY
Camera Obscura
On this episode our mystery guests will be discussing obscure and strange films/videos. This will include future visions, alternate realities, sci-fi, & art films.
>> Video not available
B-Sides
On this episode our mystery guests will be discussing some of our favorite musical b-sides. Tracks/songs/albums from bands/artists we love that were significant and amazing works but never hit the popularity charts.
>> Video pw: ztopia