Survival Training, Zenith Television, Video, Handmade Books, 2017-19
Survival Training seeks to think about ritual as it relates to time. First, the ritual of rolling a blunt as a means of entering the work. Rolling a blunt is something that is passed down from person to person and everyone has their own way of doing it. It is a very mundane task that, when taken out of context, reveals a very delicate ritual. To this end, the psychoactive effects of marijuana alter ones perception of time and space.
The accompanying text Survival Training is described loosely as a chapbook. It is a collection of poems, song lyrics from Frank Ocean, Erykah Badu and Luther Vandross with images from the Library of Congress and from my other work #FRUIT. It documents my earliest memory of my father until completing undergrad and coming back to the Bay in 2013. These moments chronicle heartbreak, unconditional love, depression, and other moments that have been integral to learning survival tools as a Black, Queer Man residing in the US. It is a toolkit for future generations to utilize as they navigate their journeys.
Pairing the video and text is a means to think about what happens when these moments of ritual and personal mythology collide. What is gained and lost in its wake?