rafa esparza breaks open the stage and creates momentum in two Acts. Act I, a public intervention in the streets of D.C., cuts down and reframes the symbolism of architectures of power. As an artist who considers himself brown and queer, raised by working-class, immigrant parents, esparza seeks to build connections with nontraditional art audiences in communities with similar histories and origins. With his action, esparza examines the physical structure housing the core of power and government, challenging the ethics of certain rhetoric that has, in various ways, enabled the inhumane practices of separating families, confining children, and detaining adults under intolerable conditions.
In Act II, the remains of the performance will be transported back into Performance Space’s theaters. Here, invited collaborators Timo Fahler, Raquel Gutiérrez, Sebastian Hernandez, Risa Puleo, and Yosimar Reyes will share the space with their communities for an eventful public dinner conceived by celebrated chef Gerardo Gonzalez to collectively witness readings that take a cue from the invited artists’ and writers’ respective knowledge, ideas, and experience of change.
*ASL will be available, if you have any questions please email boxoffice@PerformanceSpaceNewYork.org.
Co-commissioned by Performance Space New York and Ballroom Marfa. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Photo by Nacho Nava.
