DRAGONFLY AKA ROBIN LAVERNE WILSON [NEW YORK] Artist-In-Residence July, 2020-March, 2021
Artist DRAGONFLY (AKA Robin LaVerne Wilson / Miss Justice Jester) is a special Artist-in-Residence, residing/researching/creating in our living space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NYC
ABSCONDED PROJECT:
Moving Monument to Ona Judge, Forgotten Founding Mother
ABSCONDED is a hybrid street performance/public ritual that honors the life and legacy of ONA MARIA JUDGE STAINES through the creation of a living monument that moves through the streets of New York City.
Ona Judge was born into slavery before the American Revolution. She was a seamstress and Martha Washington’s body servant and “pet.” During Washington’s second term, on May 21, 1796 at age 22, Judge quietly absconded from Philadelphia on a ship to New Hampshire as the Washington’s ate dinner. With the help of Free Black and abolitionist communities, she evaded capture for the rest of her life.
In the work, DRAGONFLY (Robin LaVerne Wilson / Miss Justice Jester) embodies Judge in moving-monumental form as she walks the streets, interacting with historical figures and markers, as well as unscripted elements encountered in the procession. The work is a meditation on the perpetual state of fugitivity as freedom for the marooned members of the African Diaspora, offering a voice from the past to unbuild the mythologies surrounding the United States’ celebrated tyrants.
The project is deeply inspired by Never Caught, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar, as the foundational academic text for this work.
www.facebook.com/abscondedproject
Tuesday November 6, 2020 12:00 noon - 2:00 pm
ABSCONDED: MOVING MONUMENT RITUAL FOR ONA MARIA JUDGE STAINES #EjectionDay2020
@HEMI-TV www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGrdO4NKP4s
On November 3, 2020, DRAGONFLY (Robin LaVerne Wilson / Miss Justice Jester) performormed ABSCONDED #EjectionDay2020, a work that honors the life and legacy of Ona Maria Judge Staines through the creation of a living monument that moves through the streets of New York City.
Ona Judge was born into slavery before the American Revolution. She was a seamstress and Martha Washington's body servant and "pet." During Washington’s second term, on May 21, 1796, at age 22, Judge quietly absconded from Philadelphia on a ship to New Hampshire as the Washingtons ate dinner. With the help of Free Black and abolitionist communities, she evaded capture for the rest of her life.
ABSCONDED #EjectionDay2020 is DRAGONFLY’s second iteration of Ona Judge as a living monument. The project continues in New York City, and is also slated to be invoked at George and Martha Washington monuments and other historical landmarks worldwide. The artist’s goal is to uplift the memory of a forgotten American Founding Mother, amplify the paradox of Black freedom as fugitivity, highlight the complexities of American chattel slavery, and contribute to the ongoing conversations about who is memorialized as we push towards decolonization.
Date: #EjectionDay2020 - Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Time(s):12:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
Performance Route (all times are approximate):
12:00pm - Seneca Village in Central Park
12:20pm - Teddy Roosevelt Statue at the Museum of Natural History
12:30pm - Frederick Douglass Statue at the New York Historical Society
12:35pm - Columbus Avenue Promenade
12:50pm - Columbus Avenue and Broadway Intersection
1:00pm - San Juan Hill — Lincoln Center
1:30pm - Columbus Circle & Trump International Hotel
Event is free and open to the public. Social distancing and masks are required.
The performance is organized and sponsored by the artist, with the Hemispheric Institute at New York University, and The Grace Exhibition Space, NYC. / Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield (Producer), Sabura Rashid (Director), and Ak Jansen (Costume Design).
Monday September 7, 2020 12:00-1:30 PM
ABSCONDED: INAUGURAL MOVING MONUMENT RITUAL FOR ONA MARIA JUDGE STAINES | DRAGONFLY (ROBIN LAVERNE WILSON) [USA]
DRAGONFLY (AKA Robin LaVerne Wilson / Miss Justice Jester) has activated Grace Exhibition Space's Greenpoint, Brooklyn residency location through July and August. She debuts ABSCONDED-- the first of her living statue performance series as Ona Judge. The project inaugurates in New York City and is slated to continue indefinitely at George and Martha Washington monuments worldwide. Her goal is to uplift the memory of a forgotten Founding Mother of The United States, amplify the paradox of Black freedom as fugitivity, highlight the complexities of American chattel slavery, and contribute to the zeitgeist of conversations about who remains memorialized as we push towards a decolonized society.
Livestream & Updates available at www.dragonflyness.com/absconded
Date: [Unpaid] Labor Day - Monday, September 7, 2020
Time(s):12pm - 1:30pm
Locations: New York City USA – Wall Street to St. Paul’s Chapel to African Burial Ground
WALL STREET:
12pm -- Federal Hall
12:20pm -- NYSE
BROADWAY PROMENADES:
12:40 -- NYSE to St. Paul's Chapel
1:00 -- St. Paul's Chapel to African Burial Ground
(Social distancing expected and implored)
ONA JUDGE was born into slavery before the American Revolution. She was a seamstress and Martha Washington's body servant and "pet." While George was serving his second term, on May 21, 1796 at age 22, she quietly absconded from Philadelphia on a ship to New Hampshire as they ate dinner. With the help of the Free Black and abolitionist communities, she evaded capture for the rest of her life. Despite being considered the most privileged of the enslaved caste still chose to live in lifelong fugitivity as “freedom.”
DRAGONFLY [USA] aka ROBIN LAVERNE WILSON / MISS JUSTICE JESTER
DRAGONFLY is Robin LaVerne Wilson is Miss Justice Jester: Conceptual. Artist. Performer. Storyteller. Ritualist. Writer. Facilitator. Educator. Circle-keeper. Curator. Culture Warrior. Tambourinist. Dean of Details. Activist. Photographer. Filmmaker. Scholar. Minister. Ecologist. Accidental senatorial candidate. Texan-New Yorker. Maafa descendant. Nerd. Queer. Eccentric. Curious. Witty. Lover of all people and pronouns. Cat mom. AFFILIATIONS: Church of Stop Shopping, Grace Exhibition Space, Pollination Productions, The Opportunity Agenda, Jump-Start Theatre, La Pocha Nostra, Theatre Neumarkt, Miss Vera’s Academy, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, Rutgers University, CUNY School of Professional Studies, and The University of Texas at Austin. INFLUENCES: Sharon Bridgforth, Linda Montano, Annie Sprinkle, Beth Stephens, Rev. Billy Talen, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Sterling Houston, Harriet Tubman, Ona Judge.
http://dragonflyness.com/bqm-is-as/
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Grace, n. - simple elegance or refinement of movement
Grace Period - an extended period granted as a special favor
The Three Graces (Greek Mythology) - charm, grace, and beauty
Opened in 2006, Grace Exhibition Space is devoted exclusively to Performance Art. We offer an opportunity to experience visceral and challenging works by the current generation of international performance artists whether emerging, mid-career or established. Our events are presented on the floor, not on a stage, dissolving the boundary between artist and viewer. This is how performance art is meant to be experienced and our mission is the glorification of performance art.
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