“Indeed, Blackness provided the occasion for self reflection as well as for an exploration of terror, desire, fear, loathing, and longing.” – Saidiya V. Hartman, Scenes of Subjection

Chameleon is a performance project created by Jaamil Olawale Kosoko that examines the shapeshifting, illegible, and fugitive realities of Black diasporan people. Using live feed and augmented reality media with complexity theory (the study of adaptive survivalist strategies inside complex networks or environments) as a choreographic device, this work explores how minoritarian communities record & affirm their existence through collaborative actions and protests that archive personal freedom narratives as a way to subvert culturally charged fields of systemic oppression, loss, and erasure.

The Live Feed creative residency program is a laboratory for the development of new commissioned work directed toward our theater. This informal workshop showing offers a sneak peek into the artist’s process and ideas before they hit our stage. Taking place within the intimate working space of the Live Arts studio, each showing is followed by a discussion with the artist moderated by special guests and Live Arts staff.

The Live Feed program is supported in part by by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Partners for New Performance.