Hands Performance
single channel 3D animated video with sound, total run
time 05:17, dimensions variable
To view this video in its entirety or to get more info, please contact Rashaad Newsome Studio.
Hands Performance takes its title from the well-known element of vogue fem, highlighting a dancer’s ability to tell a story with their hands and showcasing their musicality. Hands Performance continues Rashaad’s exploration of mapping Black cultural production as a form of movement research, data storage, and collective wayfinding. Working with a team of Black Queer ASL interpreters, various vogue fem performers, flex dancers, and motion capture technologists, Newsome translated his original poetry into a movement dataset exhibiting the uniquely Black and Queer aspects of sign language. Newsome then integrated this movement into Being the Digital Griot, a Non-binary Artificial Intelligence Newsome premiered in his exhibition Assembly at the Park Avenue Armory Drill Hall in February 2022. The film combines stunning visuals from a speculative future with a highly energetic score filled with booming bass, synthetic snares, snaps, claps, and glitchy computer sounds, resulting in a futuristic sonic experience. As Being performs, they move seamlessly between signing and dance, exhibiting uniquely Black and Queer kinesics that signal the immaterial expressivity inherent to Black American life.
