LAB reports
LAB reports
Lab Reports from the New York City Dark Lab and Afro-Asia Group summer internship program June 6 - August 15, 2023. Weekly blog posts on activities and initiatives at the labs.
Editor: Kendall Greene (Amherst College, Senior ‘24)
Week 8/7/24-8/1, 2023
Kendall Greene (Amherst): This is our last week of the internship, and I feel melancholy about it ending. We explored so many new ideas and aspects of the city that I don’t think I would have thought to visit on my own. On Tuesday, we took a trip to the Bronx to visit the public garden, Wave Hill. I had never been that far north in New York before, and the scenery reminded me of the suburbs in Georgia.
Week 7 / 7/17-22, 2023
Kendall Greene (Amherst) : “After those presentations, we visited the National Museum of the American Indian for lunch and the United States Botanic Gardens. Once we returned to the library, I heard Maya Cade discuss her work with https://blackfilmarchive.com/ and the feminist ethos behind documenting tenderness. Dr. Goffe’s panel was about members of the AAPI community engaging with Digital Humanities. “
Week 6/JuLy 10-16, 2023
Ariana White (Fordham): “Comparing almost every single country’s abolition days expanded my knowledge regarding regions of the world and colonial histories. It segued into research I conducted on Zainab Floyd and Caribbean Archive. Our interview provided cultural and personal context to Floyd’s passion for Caribbean Archive. I learned about Floyd’s journey through learning and historical research that led to her archival work. Her use of academic, art, NYC, and global spaces to acquire experience and research was eye opening and inspirational as I grappled with the final stages of the drafting process.”
Week 5/July 3-9, 2023
Ariana White (Fordham): “It was eye opening seeing Dr. Goffe’s exhibition come to life as she utilized two separate spaces within ONX Studio to portray the stark contrast between living and dying corals - the exterior fountain lobby and the interior gallery space. When corals are healthy they are vibrant, as they lose the symbiotic algae necessary for nutrition they lose their coloring. Black and white footage of corals and static visuals allowed the audience to compare the lively and bubbling sounds within lobby with the stressed and vulnerable visuals featured within the gallery.”
Week 4/June 26-July 2, 2023
Kendall Greene (Amherst): “On Monday, we had to deinstall the exhibition, and I felt forlorn seeing the space empty again. The lobby space was filled with so much love, care, and life through the sounds, colors, and textures of the installation’s various elements. I am excited to see the next iteration of the project a year from now and so grateful that I was able to be a part of this version. I learned how to adapt and troubleshoot with sonic technology that shapes the space as well as improvise and help create a pleasurable atmosphere. After de-installation, I visited the MoMA for the first time and photographed all of the images that caught my eye. I was specifically focusing on African, Asian, and Indigenous storytelling. The rest of the week was completely remote which was definitely an adjustment. I miss being able to travel together and meet different people around the city, but I was able to learn about the importance of planning out my own excursions.”
Week 3/June 19-25, 2023
Kendall Greene (Amherst College): We also were able to witness and experience the opening performances of the New Inc. exhibition at ONX. I was able to meet some of the other artists and enjoy their work live rather than the recordings alone. The following day there was a Ladies in Tech meetup, and each artist walked us through the process and ideologies of the projects that the women and femmes in the space had created.”
Week 2/June 12-18, 2023
Kendall Greene (Amherst): While we were in the Upper East Side, we decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was shocked by the high ceilings and casual atmosphere even the building housed artworks that were hundreds of years old. Our intention during the visit was to visit Lauren Halsey’s sculpture installation on the rooftop. The roof was bustling with people enjoying themselves and conversing with friends over drinks. I weaved my way through the sculpture and noticed the homages to Black power, community, sensitivity, culture, and joy ingrained in the artwork. This felt like a perfect opening transition to summer.
orientation Week/ june 6-11, 2023
Ariana White (Fordham): The Dark Laboratory Internship Orientation Week took us on a journey throughout New York City from Midtown, to the Lower East Side, to brownstones in Brooklyn Heights. Dr. Tao Leigh Goffe dedicated this week to orienting myself, and fellow intern Kendall Greene, to the inner workings of the Dark Laboratory and Afro-Asia Group, and conjuring goals and “dreams” for the summer’s initiatives.