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1/4/2015

Mendi + Keith Obadike

Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School, New York

Blues Speaker [for James Baldwin] is a public sound art installation dedicated to writer and public intellectual James Baldwin (1924-1987). For Baldwin sound, music, and the blues in particular were sources of inspiration. The multichannel sound art work meditates on a politics of listening found at the intersection of Baldwinʼs language and the sound worlds invoked in his work. It uses the glass façade of The New School's University Center as delivery system for the sound, turning the building itself into a speaker. The 12-hour piece is created using slow moving harmonies, melodicized language from Baldwinʼs writings, ambient recordings from the streets of Harlem, and an inventory of sounds contained in Baldwin's story "Sonnyʼs Blues." Please join us for an opening celebration on April 2, from 5-7 pm in the Social Justice Hub, remarks will be made by LeRonn Brooks.

Blues Speaker -- Dialogues
Blues Speaker celebrates James Baldwin's keen understanding of the social role of the blues. In his important 1957 short story "Sonny's Blues," the writer argued that attending to the blues required the listener to confront and accept both literal noise (sounds beyond the listener's understanding) and ideological noise (elements of the lives of those whose journeys have taken radically different paths), and seek beauty and understanding. If this relationship to listening is specific to the blues -- a form that takes its shape in response to the survival of black people in general and to the decisions of its craftspeople -- then musicians who seriously engage the blues must hold a knowledge deeply important for humanity that lives in the music and extends beyond that medium. To examine this proposition, the artists have invited several musicians who work with the blues to read the story "Sonny's Blues" on Fridays at noon during the month of April.

Dialogues -- Schedule
April 10: Melvin Gibbs
April 17: Brandon Ross
April 24: Karma Mayet Johnson

Blues Speaker -- Related Events

Artist Talk and Student Conversation - Friday, April 17th, 3-5 pm
Mendi + Keith speak with students and the public about their work.

Taking Listening Seriously: James Baldwin - Friday, April 24th, 2-4 pm
Part of the "What Now? The Politics of Listening" conference, Mendi + Keith participate in a panel discussion with Rich Blint, moderated by Julie Napolin

This event is part of the year-long, city-wide celebration The Year of James Baldwin, which is presented in partnership with Harlem Stage, Columbia University School of the Arts and New York Live Arts, and in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, the School of Media Studies, and the School of Writing at The New School.

Special thanks to the New School Facilities Management team, the Department of Public Programs and the University Social Justice Committee for their tremendous support.

Image: Mendi + Keith Obadike, Blues Speaker Study #1, 2015. Courtesy the artists.

Press Office
Scott Gargan 212.229.5667 x3794 Communications@newschool.edu

Opening: Thu 2 Apr 2015 5.00PM-7.00PM

Vera List Center for Art and Politics
The New School
University Center
63 Fifth Avenue
New York City
Hours: 9am–9pm, free

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