Zine 2 by red/orange place

table of

interview with moniq upcoming e your tre

contents

que “muse” dodd 4-19 event! 20-21 ees 22-41

Can you tell us about the item you chose for your cyanotype? (We tried to make a sun print with Monique on the roof, but the sun was setting, so we got nothing) I brought a figure that I got when I lived in Salvador, Brazil and it’s a signal of good luck and power and the spirit moving. It’s like a Black fist like Black power so I keep it on my altar at home which is a very sacred place and I very much enjoy how it looks too. You have an altar? What’s on it? I have rum, I have some pictures of family members, I have stones and crystals and a lot of incense, candles. I repurposed my grandma’s TV and it’s covered with some wax fabric, some really beautiful African fabric. So it’s kind of whatever feels powerful to me, anything I put weight in, I have it on my altar. It’s a good place for me to like reconnect with myself and my ancestors. So would you consider yourself a spiritual person? I would say I’m a spiritual person, I don’t follow any religions, but yeah, I’m discovering myself. My film Remnants deals with me discovering my spiritual path. I started making this film in 2015 and I’ve grown so much since I’ve started it about African religions and tracing my ancestry and seeing like “ok, this is what my ancestors practiced” and paying homage to that. I grew up in a Christian household so it’s a depart from that but it’s definitely something that has informed my work as I’ve discovered more of it. As I’ve been making this film I’ve been meeting more people who are on this journey as well and who are teachers and guides as I discover what it is I’m trying to say. Is Remnants what you’re going to be working on in your residency this August at Flux Factory? Yes, Remnants is a three-part series so I’ll

be completing parts two and three during my residency. Yeah, I started in 2015, put it down for a second, and now I’ve been able to actually come back into it and be like “ok, this isn’t trash” because I think artists sometimes are like “hmm this is not how I envisioned it necessarily” but I think it’s ok because it has its own life. It’s in an experimental medium as far as form, it’s not narrative, it’s not documentary, it’s like what is it, you know? It’s imaginative, so if people can follow along, then that’s great! But it’s really for me. How did you start using photography and film as your dominating medium? I kinda stumbled into film. I actually wanted to be an actor, but then I got denied by Howard’s acting program, but they gave me a full scholarship, so I was like “ok, gotta make this work.” So I was like “hmm, what’s like theater and acting?” and then was like “oh yeah, film, I can act in film!” But then from there, there wasn’t really an acting for camera program, it was all technical, and I really started delving into that. I’ve always been a director. I started directing when I was 14 or 15 for high school plays. And a lot of times I would go out and be like “oh wow that would be a really great picture” and wanting to capture it but not having the tools because like I didn’t have a smartphone. I had like a, what do you call it, like a little Chocolate or a Razor, so anyway, the camera was trash. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that my parents bought me a DSLR and that was it. I was snappin people whenever I could, made all my roommates pose for me, was all like “oh yeah we’re gonna do a photoshoot and the theme is urban decay!” you know! And looking back that shit was so whack but it was a process! If I didn’t see any growth, then I would be in trouble, but I can see the growth, so it’s ok. When I talk to younger filmmakers and they ask me like “how can I make my work better?” I tell them to just do it as much as possible. Continually shoot, continually flesh out your ideas, concept, whatever, because the practice makes it so much better.

So you did a lot of photoshoots with friends, can you tell us about the balance between staging and documentation and what your work tips to? Most of my work is staged or I’ll come with a concept. When it comes to my creative work, it really is coming out of me. So my photo series, How to be Free: A Visual Meditation on Existence as Resistance, really started out of me feeling real down. There was a lot of Black death in the media, and I was like “what is my activism?” you know? And I felt like I didn’t necessarily want to be protesting in the streets, didn’t feel like that was my lane, so I was like “what can I do that has the most impact?” I thought about how just being in a Black body is resistance, and about self-care as resistance, and how just by existing we are subverting them. Like they’re trying to kill us, so I just wanted to create a space where Black people can see themselves peaceful, and not as commodities, and just be. I feel like depending on the photographer the work can be very objectifying and voyeuristic. I try to be mindful of my gaze. With that project I was working with my friend who’s a model, his name is Herbert Gonçalves, and he really helped me create the idea. I told him I wanted afro-futurism, that I wanted to talk about freedom and what that looks like, because if we don’t know what freedom looks like, we can’t make that a reality. He was really a strong creative partner with that. I sent him references, like paintings by people like Kehinde Wiley, whose work is just very lux. I wanted it to be like really luxurious, just sickening, just like “you! You can’t even bother.” We have so many expectations placed on us that it’s like we’re not even paying attention to other people.

I stand alone 8

Lost Ones

And it’s on the beach on rocks and it’s like “where are we?!” Because I was thinking like “where in the world is it safe to be a Black person?” and the answer is nowhere. Nowhere is it safe to be a Black person. Might have to go to outer space. So that’s also kind of my reference. Can we be free right here, right now? No. So I was trying to create a space for that. It was definitely dope to have that collaboration with him. The colors in that series are so so mystical and sometimes you put the shots in Black and white. Can you speak to that decision more? The first picture in the series, Lost Ones, I posted on Facebook and it was kind of an open letter to America, to Black people, and how we’re tired of it and how we really just have to care for eachother. And it got a really good response! I took these photos just because I felt like I needed to take these photos, and you know I posted them online, added them to my portfolio, but then I got such a good response from it, that I was like “well, ok, maybe I need to make this a series.” I took like 200 photos, so the whole editing process took a long time. The first one just looked really good black and white, the contrast was really shocking to me. But I was going back through figuring out what really stood out to me, and color grading and editing, and trying to create a cohesive piece, so originally everything was going to be black and white. But then somehow, I just started playing with this blue green cyanotype thing and was like “I like this.” And this was before Moonlight came out, but it was very reminiscent of it, and also the quote in that movie

Jazz

Across the Atlantic

Black Boy Blue

Boiling Point

like “In the moonlight, Black boys look blue.” Yeah, I just liked the way it hit his skin and the highlights and everything, I was like “this is so beautiful,” and also like Black people might be aliens, you know. This world don’t deserve Black people. Sometimes I’m just like “are we really from here?” I think the blue, and the highlights of that, and the Black and white kind of complemented each other as well, definitely creating like a cohesive piece. Yeah the blue definitely seems really mystical and magical and seemingly bringing out that spiritual side of you that you mentioned. Is that something you were channeling? Definitely, but maybe not consciously. But when I create, I go into this place of meditation. That’s why I separate Muse, the artist, from Monique. I’m not Monique when I’m creating this work, I’m tapping into a higher consciousness, into the spiritual reserve that we all have access to. I’m interested in how that spiritual reserve impacts my work, but also I’ve been enamored with fantasy, sci-fi, I just love the unknown. Twilight Zone was like my favorite show growing up. I’m always into the weird and the unexplainable. Any artist is creating magic. You write that through travel you explore how black bodies function in different locations, and you made your film, Boiling Point, in Prague, where there are virtually no black people. How did that impact the film? When I came up with the idea, I wanted to use Black characters. But there are no Black people in Prague. Like maybe three. I was legit trying to talk to my creative partner and DP like “they need to be Black” but then I was just like “ok I just need an actor.” It was interesting because revisiting Boiling Point, I thought it was about my relationship with my mother, but then I realized it’s about my mom’s relationship with her mother and how that also impacted me. The characters weren’t Black but it was still about those issues. And it’s funny because when I’ll

go show it places, I’m like “disclaimer! There are no Black people in this film!” which is fine, because it’s still about race and it’s about consumption. I’m really interested in how we consume media and how we consume people. In this film, they are actually consuming flesh. I wonder how it would change if the characters were Black, but it’s still about consumerism. The Black male body is being consumed so readily in media. We got the NFL, where they have the Combine where they basically grade all of the prospective NFL players. And it’s very reminiscent of slave auctions. The “owners,” first of all just think about that language that we use, are looking at their bodies, checking them out, they have to run drills, time them, and it’s just such a weird vibe. The NFL profits off of Black bodies and how many owners in the NFL are Black? Maybe 2? And how many quarterbacks are Black? We have Cam Newton … yeah. There are talented Black quarterbacks it’s just the idea that you have to to be a quarterback you have a certain mentality, you have to be super intelligent, and it’s just playing into these stereotypes, that White people are more intelligent than Black people. But every other position is Black, because that’s the grunt work. We are seen as just the workers. In the genesis of my series, How to Be Free, I was just walking around DC and you see guys sitting around the corner, Black guys, and the police will come over and harass them. But for what, you know? We can’t sit in a park? We can’t enjoy this beautiful weather? Going back to vagrancy laws, and how with postreconstruction, you had to have papers in order to go from one place to any other place, and you had to prove that you were working, and if you weren’t working, they could put you in jail, and that’s the new slavery! Ever since slavery, America has been trying to find ways to get rid of Black people, because it’s like “we can’t profit off your labor anymore, so like what use are you?” I’m very conscious of these things as I’m creating work and how I can combat all this negativity out there. It’s so heavy, you know. I’m trying to lighten it, but also be aware of 13

these things, but you know, no Black person is unaware of these things, so it would be preaching to the choir, and I definitely think my audience is Black people, and that’s whom I’m accountable to. I don’t want to give them something that they already have. I want to provide them with something new, something they can benefit from. What was that exhibit, it was like a casket of Emmett Till? The Dana Schutz one at the Whitney Biennial? Yeah she’s white too, so. Yeah, and it’s so interesting how some people think we need to see these things, even on Facebook, like a spectacle. And really, nothing has changed. Like when we had lynchings, those were in public, people would bring their kids. I feel like I saw a picture and somebody was eating a snack! This is a sickness! I feel like we pathologize Blackness, but Whiteness has a lot to deal with and a lot to confront. Y’all gotta handle that, I’m talking to Black people right now! I live with my grandmother and working through that intergenerational trauma is important to me as well. The conversations we have are really conversations she’s never had before. My grandmother’s from New Orleans, she’s Creole, and she came to one of my sister’s shows in DC and there was a piece talking about colorism in the Black community. And it was like the first time she had ever thought about that. I’m like, “grandma, don’t you look in the mirror? You’re light skinned!” and she’s like “no, no I don’t see color” and I’m like “ok grandma.” But then I came to New York after that and she was like “you know what Monique, the other day I was like lookin in the mirror and I thought about what you said and was like wow! I am light skinned!” She was like “I never had to think about that,” which is a privilege in itself. For my 84-year-old grandmother to have revelations about self-identity, privilege, I’m like, there’s no reason White people can’t do that work. It’s important we have these conversations and deal with this shit because 14

we are all connected, you know, this Earth is dying! And we’re still here and we’re fighting with each other, but for what? I think about Black futures, and I think about sci-fi movies, like why are there no Black people when they go to the next planet? They leave us behind and I’m like “mmm, you’re gonna need us.” I want to create sci-fi where Black people get to leave first. There’s this film where the plot is like aliens come to Earth and they say “we’ll give you all this technology, how to end hunger, renewable energy, all these things, but, you gotta send us all of your Black people.” They don’t say what it’s for and they’re like, “you have a week to decide” and American has this big poll, and of course was like “yeah let’s get rid of Black people.” I want to create a future where Black people are thought of first and create stories where we are centered in the narrative, and not some side character who has no back story. Like have you guys seen Stranger Things? The little Black boy? Like we never see his parents! And I know good and well that his parents would not just let him ride around on his bike with these little white boys. And there’s this kid missing, I’m like “hold on, y’all need to do some background here.” Like we only saw his parents at the funeral… like I need you guys to do some research. He has no backstory and we know everybody else’s family. I want to give Black characters dimension cuz we’re expansive, and it’s crazy that I have to say this, it’s crazy. We have lives, and we have depth, multitudes, so it’s crazy that I have to say this, #Blacklivesmatter. There should be like a Black NASA, like White NASA is going to shit. Right! Well have you seen Hidden Figures? The only reason we were able to go to the moon, is because Black women were doing the mathematical calculations. We got us there. And in a world that is sexist and racist, Black women were able to do this, and were also the only people able to do this. Like y’all

Travel Reel

Travel Reel 16

underestimate us so much and you’re really just shooting yourself in the foot because you know, we probably could have had a cure for cancer right now if y’all weren’t like jailing and killing us. We can’t actually collectively evolve until we start treating all people of color with dignity and respect and giving reparations. Just so we can return balance to the world. In the mind of that little Black girl that you said is troubled, she could be holding the ability to do these things, we just have not been nurturing that. People out here ballin out on some stupid shit but like, “no, we don’t have money though”. Yeah there have been way too many films like “troubled White boy in high school doesn’t make basketball team, goes on rampage and kills father” like what. Yeah and I feel like filmmakers make things that come from real life so if you have no Black friends in real life, then how are you supposed to tell that story? I don’t think someone should talk for people of color, instead we should be making space for people of color to tell their stories. But also, if you’re not an expert, and you have this platform and the resources, get an expert on! What was Sophia Coppola’s latest film? There are no Black characters, it’s super White. I think her excuse was like “I don’t know enough about it and don’t wanna misrepresent it so I just omitted Black women” and I was like “but don’t you have resources…” Like isn’t that in the production budget? Did you not do any research? Like y’all are tired, these excuses are tired. Hollywood is so reactionary, like it took #OscarsSoWhite for there to be a Moonlight. It’s not like these great films aren’t being created, people just only pay attention when there’s this media campaign and people hype it up. We’re great whether you realize it or not, we don’t need validation, but winning these awards opens doors for directors and filmmakers of color. So in the system that we are in, these things matter. I think Hollywood and TV like Netflix is realizing

that stories with people of color at the center sell. Everything has to be profitable. Under capitalism somebody always has to be the underdog, someone always has to be oppressed. Is there ethical consumption under capitalism? Hard question. The main thing for me as an artist is the support of my friends, people buying my work, sharing my film, coming to my shows, that makes the difference. These are the people I’m making it for. Seeing myself reflected on the screen makes me feel so loved and seen, and I want to create that for people too. We are all struggling with the same things, and we need to support each other, because it’s hard! I want to uplift other stories and center people of color, and give that back too. And giving my platform to others is important too. I’m working on a film screening centering Black and Asian filmmakers, Color Correct, which is not a conversation that happens that often, only very reactionary. There’s a strained relationship between Black and Asian communities. And I’m moderating the conversation afterwards. It’s exciting to be in conversation with other filmmakers and delve into their process. A lot of times in interviews you’ll have filmmakers start at this very basic level of understanding about what it means to be a queer filmmaker of color. We don’t get into the meat of what we ask other filmmakers. We can get into the technical stuff, and like “what was it like making this film as a poc?” and it’s like no! I want there to be more than that, more deep questions. I wanna dig into the root of the issue and actually engage the filmmaker in what they put their time into. It’s just part of who you are, the body you exist in, and it informs a lot of things, but at the end of the day, I’m trying to create work. And I identify as a Black queer woman filmmaker, because I want to stand up for my community, but at the end of the day my films can apply to anything. Right now I’m ok with labels. Some people are like “I don’t want to be labeled as a Black filmmaker, I don’t want to be labeled as a queer filmmaker” and I understand that, because we don’t really get a choice. Because it’s like you 17

can be doing a documentary on fucking ants in Canada and it’s still like a “Black film?” like come on, just because it’s a Black director doesn’t mean it’s a Black film. There are films made by white directors but are still considered “Black films” like The Color Purple, like that’s a classic, we still fuck with it. But yeah it’s like, who can tell whose story? And I think we’ve had enough white cis males telling everyone’s stories that like they need to sit down and chill. And fund some shit. Exactly, put your money where your mouth is. And change your idea of diversity. Like “there was one Asian woman on the panel,” like ok. We need to be more accountable to what we call diversity, more accountable to who actually tells the stories, and how we buy into that. I think it was the Executive Vice president of Post Production at Paramount or something, and he worked on the film “Ghost in the Shell,” and he came to Howard to speak on a panel of filmmakers talking about moving to Hollywood. And “Ghost in the Shell”, originally had the lead as an Asian woman, but they cast Scarlett Johansson. And it’s interesting because the guy who came is Black, and I was sitting there like “come on no one’s gonna ask him the question, no one’s gonna call him out?” If you’re gonna come to Howard University, the heart of Black radicalism and resistance, not questioning or speaking up in these situations, like come on. I was like “what’s good??” And he was like “I can’t really talk about that” like “we picked the best actor for the role blah blah blah. ” At Howard the students were like “huh why are you asking those questions?,” and I’m like “how are you not asking these questions?” Like it was a room full of filmmakers and they were tryna get internships, you know, but if you’re afraid to ask these questions on your own turf, how are you guys gonna challenge the system when you get to Hollywood? If you’re just buying into it, you’re just going into a system that doesn’t want you there anyway. 18

They already don’t like you, so what are you afraid of? What are you working on this summer? Do you have other big plans unrealized projects? Things you want to explore? Along with Remnants, I’m working on some scripts and some web content, because you know, we’re starved for content. But yeah you know I’ve seen all of the Black shows out there, I need something else. Shoutout to Brown Girls, they got picked up by HBO. Need to make some web content, get picked up, Netflix! Your girl’s right here! Definitely going to delve more into sci-fi and afrofuturism and weird shit. And I feel like my work now has been leaning more towards gallery spaces. I’m still figuring out the next thing. I’m working on a few short docs, because my attention span is very short, so that’s my lane right there. I’m working on a few music videos releasing soon. The sky’s the limit. Also comedy. I love to laugh and I feel like once I deal with all this heavy shit, I can do that. And I still want to go back to acting, so maybe something like acting in a web series. But yeah, I wanna explore comedy and satire. My work is not funny right now, so I want to vary it. Over time, I’ll be able to access these things. I try to infuse laughter in my everyday. But I feel like when we dance around trauma and don’t deal with it head on, entering it is scary. Once you name these things in your trauma, you’re able to live your life more freely, and laugh about it. Cuz this shit is funny and sad, but Black people laugh a lot, and cry a lot, and sometimes laugh so hard we cry. Comedy is definitely healing. So maybe that will be my contribution to the resistance, some jokes. Are you doing any more traveling? I would definitely like to go back to Brazil. My family is there now, my friends became my family, and the weather.

A lot of these places have Black security guards, like doormen, even in Prague. And that also goes back to slavery. Because it’s a status to have Black slaves, so having them at the door is a status thing as well. Even in America, I used to work at a bar on 14th street, like all of the security guards were Black. Which is interesting because that’s who they’re trying to keep out of the bars. Aesthetics plays into these things. Big Black guy at the door working for you means no one’s gonna try anything, but it’s also like, you’re afraid of those other big Black guys who aren’t working for you.

upcoming event!!!!!!!

We are proud to be hosting an evening of performance on July 23d beginning at seven p.m., stretching into the golden hour, and into the evening. Come to it! Brooklyn dancer poet duo, Nia & Ness will grace our rooftop with a performance that surrounds their black lesbian identities. Most recently they have been announced as the winners of the 2017 National Women’s Music Festival Emerging Artist Contest. Thomas “Tom Cat” Hill, poet, writer, and content creator, will honor us as well. He has spit at the Kennedy Center, the White House, and has co-led workshops everywhere from Harvard, to Howard, to Pretoria, South Africa.Please help him out in his studies at St. Johns if you can. Also check out his project softmasc. Rest of lineup TBD. Hit us up if you’d like to hop on! This event is totally free! Come at 7 on July 23d to our roof at 473 Putnam Avenue. Invite your friends!

a tree your h

(or some spec

e near home

cial vegetation)

Ben

Paul

I love my little dead tree! A man came up to me with a saw when I was leaving my apartment and asked if he could cut it down what did you say? â&#x20AC;&#x153;no!â&#x20AC;? Maggie 26

Sam

Austin

Andrew

Ian

David

Jenn

Danny

Delia

the biggest tree on my st Alex

My mom used to have this fake plant that I always found comforting. I think it got lost in the move. Riley

The government cut down the tree in front of my parents house last year for some reason or another. My father was upset because it was the tree his father would park his car under for shade. And because he knew it meant the government could â&#x20AC;&#x153;squish him like a bug.â&#x20AC;? Maya

Julia

This isn’t a good pic but for the past few years I plant something new in my mom’s front yeard on her birthday and when I came home for the summer it was exciting to see them all blooming again. My mom loves trees and she used to have one in her yard that she loved but she lives in a townhouse and has little say over the landscpaing and one day she came home and they had cut it down. She said she “sat on the stump and cried” Anyway, my mom’s birthday was yesterday and I really wanted to somehow plant her a new tree but I wasn’t in town and idk how I’d accomplish that but maybe next year Halley

thank for yo trees!

k you our !!