If we choose to reclaim ourselves from the ashes
eulogy turned dance hall
Lainer Family Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA, Spring 2022
If we choose to reclaim ourselves from the ashes transforms the Lainer Gallery into a nightclub and subsequently re-envisions its location, the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, as a massive concrete tomb. The opening party features music by DJ Hoeteps and SkekMal; drinks by Amanda Kikhuff; wardrobe suggestions and scarves by Bokeum Jeon; and a eulogy by Kimi Hanauer co-performed with Jackie Amezquita, Lukaza Brafman-Verrissimo, Kearra Amaya Gopee, and Katie Gritilian.
If we choose… calls on those who gather within it to reclaim ourselves, our labor, our joy, and our agency from the arms and aims of the power-hoarding institutions that we constitute. Through public, celebratory, and intimate modes of gathering, the project aims to hold space for grief and necessary processes of release within this period of collective undoing. Through our gathering—our being with and bearing witness—we make a portal for reclaiming ourselves from the ashes of the world as we know it.
Within the remnants of the party, in the weeks following the opening celebration, community members are invited to participate in Chrysalis Sessions, programs hosted by the Center for Liberatory Practice & Poetry. Event details are subject to change pending COVID-19 safety precautions.
Chrysalis Sessions ︎︎︎
Eulogy ︎︎︎
If we choose… calls on those who gather within it to reclaim ourselves, our labor, our joy, and our agency from the arms and aims of the power-hoarding institutions that we constitute. Through public, celebratory, and intimate modes of gathering, the project aims to hold space for grief and necessary processes of release within this period of collective undoing. Through our gathering—our being with and bearing witness—we make a portal for reclaiming ourselves from the ashes of the world as we know it.
Within the remnants of the party, in the weeks following the opening celebration, community members are invited to participate in Chrysalis Sessions, programs hosted by the Center for Liberatory Practice & Poetry. Event details are subject to change pending COVID-19 safety precautions.
Chrysalis Sessions ︎︎︎
Eulogy ︎︎︎
