Oct 15, 2015
BLACK MARKET READS interviews the quixotic and brilliant multidisciplinary artist Dean Moss who is presented his work, johnbrown, at the Walker Art Center. He was also a speaker at Convening: Resistance and Rebellion, a day-long international convening exploring the role of art in revolution presented by the Givens Foundation for African American Literature in partnership with Million Artist Movement.
Check out minute 13:04 to hear the interview from the beginning in its entirety.
johnbrown
“Mr. Moss layers national narratives and personal narratives, moving bodies and moving images, haunting songs and heated conversations in ways that leave us contemplating the future by way of the past.” —New York Times
In this dense and precisely executed work, Dean Moss creates a performative meditation on the complicated, controversial legacy of 19th-century abolitionist John Brown. Moss integrates transfixing choreography, visual design, video, theater, and community participation to question not only the turbulent past of a historical figure but also the racial, gender, and generational processes at play in the inquiry. This ambitious socio-historical critique offers a fascinating intersection of ideas, identities, and ideologies.