Steffani Jemison, performance – Cynosure

Performance by Steffani Jemison, JaLeel Marques Porcha & Andros Zins-Browne in conjunction with the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts
About this Event

Join us at ArtLab for Cynosure, a performance by Steffani Jemison, in conjunction with the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts exhibition Constitutive Outside.

Cynosure, the word from which this work draws its title, is derived from the Greek kynosoura, literally meaning “dog’s tail,” and was an ancient name for the constellation Ursa Minor. This constellation contains the celestial North Star (Polaris), which has long served as a point of orientation for navigation. Taking orientation—our way of placing ourselves in space—as both a physical and social question, Cynosure asks how relation might open non-hierarchical and interconnected modes of perception.

Performed by Steffani Jemison, JaLeel Marques Porcha, and Andros Zins-Browne, the work uses repetition, speech, and play to map and reimagine geographies of Black life that are often disavowed by a society shaped by settler-colonial conceptions of subjectivity, ultimately asking how other forms of relation can emerge. Adapting the children’s game “Marco Polo,” Cynosure transforms a familiar exchange into an extended meditation on language, listening, and movement.

Cynosure is part of Jemison’s ongoing In Succession series, a body of video and performance works that asks: How can we think of our bodies as supports—as structures, like bricks and beams? How can we learn “on the fly”? How can we imagine forms of collective life that emerge through movement, language, and shared attention?

This performance is presented in collaboration with the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, with support from ArtThursdays.

Parking: Please note that ArtLab does not have parking, and on-street parking in the area is limited. Ride-share and public transit are recommended.