5:00 pm Workshop
In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing
About the dark times.
– Bertolt Brecht, 1939 (motto to the Svenborg Poems, aka The Exile Poems)
One election does not change who we are as a people. The America I know is clear-eyed and big-hearted―full of courage and ingenuity. Although politics can significantly affect our lives, our success has always been rooted in the willingness of our people to look out for one another and help each other through tough times. More than my Presidency, or any Presidency, it is the optimism and hard work of people like you that have changed our country for the better and that will continue to give us the strength we need to persevere.
– Barack Obama, January 9, 2017 (in a letter to Salon presenter Adam Farcus)
Protest Song is a participatory and collaborative project in which people are invited to create and perform a protest song. For lyrics, participants use gibberish text that is a translation of Donald Trump’s inauguration speech. Everyone is encouraged to create new protest songs or perform versions of existing songs from the project.
*Instructions, writing tools, and some instruments are provided. People are also invited to bring any additional musical instruments or noise makers.
RSVP requested for Workshop. Please email mfaedasalon@gmail.com
6:00 pm Artist Talk
Through poetic sleight of hand, Farcus’ work contends with the emotions that extend from climate change and social injustice. In this talk Farcus will address on how their work focuses on the fears, anxiety, complacently, and hopelessness caused by the degenerating social-political climate and dire environmental state of our society.
Adam Farcus is a Lubbock, Texas, based activist, artist, curator, feminist, and teacher. Adam received their M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, B.F.A. from Illinois State University, and A.A. from Joliet Junior College. Their work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Vox Populi, Philadelphia; the American University Museum, and Advance Art Museum, Changsha, China. They have lectured on their work at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Performance Studies International 16 conference, among many others. From 2012 through 2015 they were also a co-curator, with Allison Yasukawa, for the Baltimore-based residential art space, Lease Agreement. Lease Agreement now exists as an alternative and nomadic curatorial project, based in Lubbock, Texas. Adam is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art in Foundations at Texas Tech University.
January 12, 2020
Rubenstein Arts Center 131
Curated by Mao Wei, MFA’20
More information: http://www.mfaedasalon.org/jan-12-2020-program-notes/
