Assembly

Assembly, a new multi-experiential work by interdisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome, commissioned by Park Avenue Armory, transforms the Armory’s expansive Wade Thompson Drill Hall into an exhibition space, performance hall, classroom, and theater. During the day, upon entering the Drill Hall, visitors will encounter many dimensions of Newsome’s practice: video-mapped walls that pulsate with projected imagery of computer-generated diasporic fractals inspired by the geometry within traditional African culture; a 30-foot-tall hologram sculpture of vogue performers morphing and transforming; and collage and sculptural works that merge and mutate images of Black and Black Queer culture, fashion, West African sculptures, textiles, and masks with 19th-century ebony Dutch-style frame. The next room contains Being who is at the center of Assembly. Being is a digital griot who generates poetry and models and instructs audiences in reflection, contemplation, movement, and dialogue. Being will lead three participatory workshops each day that teach decolonization through a combination of lecture, critical thinking, dance, storytelling, conversation, and mindfulness meditation. Visitors are invited to sign up in advance for the workshops, or simply observe from the theater seats. When not teaching, Being will recite poetry based on the work of queer poet Dazié Rustin Grego-Sykes. Being’s recitations will be backed by a soundscape composed by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe.

In the evening, the work flows into performances featuring an international collective of dancers, singers, musicians, and MCs that celebrate the many facets of vogue culture in our world. Newsome says of his commission: “Assembly will offer audiences a new way of thinking about rights, liberty, and humanity, using the so rarely explored paradox of the Black experience and the advancement of technology as a jumping-off point. As visitors walk through the exhibition, they will be compelled to consider their relationship to technology and its connections to the culture of domination. Through explorations into the connections between quantum energy, Black sociality, and Black liberation movements, one thing becomes clear: the only way we will get to the future is together. This type of beloved togetherness starts with a real reboot.”