_transitions portal

network congestion awareness reflects upon the strain of technological overload while offering a meditative space where nature and stillness can coexist with technology.

Elizabeth “Liz” Mputu is a Congolese American artist based in Orlando, Florida. Mputu is a "multiplatform, multimedia artist who engages in work which relates to sex, gender, race, and queerness". Mputu works within a space of feminist net art to understand the whiteness and privilege on the internet.

connectivity issues play to the tone of a love poem, expressing both a digital and physical self-longing for an empathic connection that ties to the makeup of data and algorithms. 

Elizabeth “Liz” Mputu is a Congolese American artist based in Orlando, Florida. Mputu is a "multiplatform, multimedia artist who engages in work which relates to sex, gender, race, and queerness". Mputu works within a space of feminist net art to understand the whiteness and privilege on the internet.

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Back Talk: Black Women’s Rebuttal contextualizes images of the “black fly girl” that epitomized the height of Black womens’ urban expressive culture in the ‘90s, summoning retro footage from Freaknic (‘95), GreekFest (‘93), and the photography of Jamel Shabazz to provide commentary on the evolution of depictions of the Black female + Black womanhood in media and pop culture to make a larger point about our creativity, our voice (talking back) and how little imagination folks have when engaging us.

Tamika “Mika” Gadsden is an outspoken social justice organizer, Twitch streamer, citizen journalist, and political radio show host based in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Shortly after earning her degree in Political Science from New Jersey City University, Mika spent her earlier professional years as a lead aide to New Jersey Secretary of State, Regena L. Thomas. This proved to be a pivotal moment for Mika which led to her time as an organizer with grassroots campaigns in cities like Camden and Trenton, New Jersey. Mika built upon the work of her fellow femme/women organizers by nurturing an outgrowth of local movement work, The Charleston Activist Network. As a proud daughter of Jim Crow refugees, Mika has drawn from her rich Gullah and Southern Black Belt heritage to inform much of her more recent activist work.

I HATE YOU SO MUCH features the artist delivering a cover of Kelis’ song “Caught Out There.” Ross' take on a song about deception and betrayal yet neutralizes an emotion that projects a negative association to the “archetype” of a black woman. Ross “rages” out to the song while red beams flash from her eyes and her enlarged mouth -- an effect due to a filter designed by the artist.

Olivia McKayla Ross is a Caribbean American video artist, programmer, and poet from Queens, New York City. Her work is inspired by the relationship between electronic video and vanity--by deep fantasy, Instagram filters, glamour magic, mirrors, and the fantasies and anxieties of video transmission: immersion, absorption, surveillance, and control.

She is currently Associate Producer of the Black Feminist speculative documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon, while pursuing a dual degree in Design and Technology and Screen Studies at The New School. Olivia is the youngest alum of the School for Poetic Computation and has taught at Black Girls Code, BUFU, POWRPLNT, Ethel’s Club, Anderson Ranch, and Pioneer Works. She can be found online at @cyberdoula on IG or @mermaidwar on Twitter.

Click on the video to access the full interview.

Founder of the Charleston Activist Network Mika Gadsden elaborates on the relevance and magnitude of the 90s Flygirl movement, in conversation with Lexi Coburn, reflecting on her installation Back Talk: Black Women's Rebuttal.

Tamika “Mika” Gadsden is an outspoken social justice organizer, Twitch streamer, citizen journalist, and political radio show host based in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Shortly after earning her degree in Political Science from New Jersey City University, Mika spent her earlier professional years as a lead aide to New Jersey Secretary of State, Regena L. Thomas. This proved to be a pivotal moment for Mika which led to her time as an organizer with grassroots campaigns in cities like Camden and Trenton, New Jersey. Mika built upon the work of her fellow femme/women organizers by nurturing an outgrowth of local movement work, The Charleston Activist Network. As a proud daughter of Jim Crow refugees, Mika has drawn from her rich Gullah and Southern Black Belt heritage to inform much of her more recent activist work.

Click on the video to access the full interview.

The Heaux History Project is documenting Black, Brown, and Indigenous erotic labor histories and sex workers' rights movements through essays, zines and other publications, digital archives, interviews, and film.

During the opening week of black beyond _origins, The Heaux History Project puts respect and emphasis on the legacy and contributions of sex workers to popular culture on a panel moderated by Decoding Stigma.

Click on the video to access the full interview.

The Heaux History Project is documenting Black, Brown, and Indigenous erotic labor histories and sex workers' rights movements through essays, zines and other publications, digital archives, interviews, and film.

During the opening week of black beyond _origins, The Heaux History Project puts respect and emphasis on the legacy and contributions of sex workers to popular culture on a panel moderated by Decoding Stigma