With the advent of the selfie and contemporary discussions around representation, there is a growing sense of the limits and possibility of a portrait. Circulated images can raise the profile of an individual, capture the pulse of the moment, yet can also broadcast unhelpful and unexamined narratives. For the last year artists Zachary Fabri and Samantha Box have been in discussion with these ideas. Along the way, Box was commissioned to take a portrait of Fabri, who responded to the portrait through a live performance at the Weeksville Heritage Center. Join Fabri and Box as they talk about their process, and expand the proverbial frame of portraiture to consider the lifeforce of an image, the sitter, the viewer, and the context of making a picture. 

Moderated and organized by Theodore (ted) Kerr, who curated the commission and performance as part of his 2022 ISSUE Project Room Curatorial Fellowship.

The Arts Platform Fall 2022 theme is Staging a Revolution: Black Arts Now which explores the relationship between artistic expression, social justice, and politics during the contemporary Black arts movement that has exploded over the last decade. As such, we welcome presentations by artists, activists, curators, scholars, and other practitioners who are working toward and reimagining racial justice within the arts industries. While the course was born out of this boom in Black theater and arts, it is also interested in coalition-building across different identities and communities.

Hosted by Lang staff and faculty from the Department of The Arts at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School. All events are free and open to the public, but prior registration is required.

Zoom link will be sent in advance of the event.