2014 — Work Collection — Jefferson Pinder

Relay

In 2002, I embarked on a series of video work called the Inertia Cycle. The primary focus of these videos is to explore physicality and intense exertion as it relates to the black body. As a society, we admire athletics. We revel in watching athletes push their bodies to their limits. In the Inertia Cycle I am exploring the theatrics of physical labor. For Northern Spark, the video performance piece Relay conveyed the quiet heroics of a community. Working as a meditative projection, viewers caught glimpse of Somali-Americans using the action of running as a metaphor for labor in a transformative journey. In this work, a continual stream of people are striving to move forward.

Installation, Performance, VideoLeaf SilverSeptember 11, 20142014

Dark Matter

What does it look like when millennials take to the street? Moved by the physicality of rebellion, Pinder collaborated with a group of accomplished break dancers called The Lionz of Zion. The piece explored how breakdancing best captured the explosive nature of spontaneous protest. This performance featured acrobatics, gesturing to how athletic movement can be used as a way of creating conversations around social struggle. Employing intense police lights, minimal costuming, smoke, and music, the team of break dancers wove a loose narrative to produce a chilling effect.

Performance, VideoLeaf SilverAugust 11, 20142014

Thoroughbred

The term “thoroughbred” describes pure-bred horses known for their agility and speed. Referencing the legacy of comparing black bodies to “beasts of burden", four black performers step onto treadmills in a white-walled Chicago gallery space and work themselves to exhaustion. The treadmills, which are controlled by the artist, push the small group of runners to their physical limit as the speed is increased. The implicated spectators watch as the work devolves to one strong runner. What starts in a beautiful unison ends in dramatic fashion, as the performers struggle to keep pace with the accelerating apparatuses.