float

2019
PERFORMANCE, LAKE MICHIGAN, CHICAGO, IL 
HD DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDING; DURATION 8:46

Eugene Williams, age 17, was stoned to death by white teenagers while floating over to the “white side” of a Chicago beach on July 27th, 1919. On the exact time and date 100 years later, the artist sends a group of performers adrift. Connected by rope in the mighty Lake Michigan, the large ensemble becomes a monument to the moment in which racial difference tore apart the fiber of Chicago. Now, in the present, a mixed-race group struggles to hold together, as the same forces that led to Eugene’s float are still present today.

---

ARTIST
Jefferson Pinder

VIDEO EDITOR
Leaf Silver

VIDEOGRAPHY
Orlando Pinder
Donijah Collier

AUDIO/SOUND
AJ McClenon

MUSICIAN
Xris Copal

SOUND ASSISTANT
Hedra Rowan

SAFETY COORDINATOR
Joseph Lefthand

PRODUCTION MANAGER
Aimy Tien

DRONE OPERATOR
Stan Miskiewicz

FLOAT PARTICIPANTS
Eleanna Anaganos
Jenna Anast
Yana Atim
Austin Banks
Jamie Black
Jared Brown
Brianna Buckley
Maria Carrasquilla
AJ Christian
Alex Cohen
Heather Cummings
Jory Drew
Nia Easley
Timothy C. Engelbrecht
Niah Engstrom
Delaney Eubanks
David Fisk
Isaura Flores
Leah Gallant
Leah Galleni
Aaryanna Gariss
Julie Grutzman
Jyreika Guest
Josh Harris
Jamila Hinson
Noe Jara
Aymar Jean
Ashley Joy
Kelly Kaczynski
Ashley Lawson

Heaven Lee
Alexus Loving
Alissa Loving
Nancy Lu
Regina Martinez
Christopher Means
Joelle Mercedes
Linn Meyers
Elizabeth Mudenyo
Minh Nguyen
Osayi Omoregie
Jessica Pappalardo
Kaman Patrick
Carolina Poveda
Julia Roldan
Jordan Rome
Daniel Salamanca
Jo Schaffer
Najee-Zaid Searcy
Joshua Spelman-Hall
Andrew Tham
Victoria Timpo
Martel Tinsley
Edna Togba
Shay Turnage
Nabil Vega
Nicholas Ward
Damita Webster
Rakeesha Wrigley

---