The Institute of Contemporary Art and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania are pleased to present an artist lecture and conversation with SCRAAATCH on how performance and musical experimentation functions as a means of communication throughout the Black diaspora.

This free public lecture is part of a series that gathers distinguished artists, writers, and designers whose work engages with the social and cultural themes of our time.

Bio

SCRAAATCH is the sound and performance art duo of E. Jane and chukwumaa (who also record music individually as MHYSA and lawd knows). They create multimedia performance works, experimental music, and hybrid DJ sets. Their work focuses on themes of communication across the Black diaspora, generational traumas, social upheaval, and the social conditions of urban environments. They are interested in communication attempts, communication breakdowns, societal breakdowns, and how that communication can be meditated on through performance. SCRAAATCH’s works use the combined phenomenological experiences of digital, visual, aural, and corporeal materials. Gestures of sampling in electronic music and art are very important to their practice; they often source sounds, images, and physical objects that represent the ever-morphing urban and digital landscapes where so many socio-political dynamics take place. These time-based performances typically unfold over durations that allow the viewer a space to meditate on the feelings these sights, sounds, and gestures conjure.

Register

REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON | REGISTER TO ATTEND OVER ZOOM

Captioning will be available for this program via Zoom.

Note: masks are required for all registrants attending in person programs. Please contact Brittany Clottey at bclottey@ica.upenn.edu with any questions. 

Support

Programming at ICA is made possible in part by the Emily and Jerry Spiegel Fund to Support Contemporary Culture and Visual Arts and the Lise Spiegel Wilks and Jeffrey Wilks Family Foundation. Public and Student Engagement at ICA is supported by the Bernstein Public Engagement Fund, Suzanne Weiss Doft & Jacob W. Doft, Hilarie L. & Mitchell Morgan, and by Dana McDonald Strong & Mark W. Strong.