Black Bliss Rave Exhibition
by the Black Bliss Rangers
Our club space is a collaborative, community-driven, arts-based dreamscape that meets at the intersection of experiential design, visual imagery, and creative media production. We invite those who enter the space to contemplate imaginative and resilient productions of Black bliss. Our temporary club space— cosmic formation of black bliss—exhibits a range of multi-sensory installations incorporating visual arts, experiential design, and creative media production.
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, network and community-level adversities within the Black community “reduce[d] availability of nurturing interaction in strong and positively toned relationships community-wide. Our dreamscape as a temporary club space:
• Engages the community in co-constructing and comprehending imaginative and resilient productions of Black bliss
• Increases social cohesion by bringing local Black communities together for ongoing community participation
Held amongst a series of interactive installations and large-scale murals, the main night will center Black bliss + freedom during an evening filled with music, talent, and more. Our co-play dreamscape will be a functional, interactive space emphasizing critical connections to deepen relationships within the Black community.
***The Black Bliss Rave exhibition, including “Every Nigga Is A Star Trek” and the workshop/open studio hours center Black people and Black joy. With this in mind, this space is designated as a BIPOC-folx only social experience.***
Additional events will include open visiting hours to enjoy and relax in the space.
Documentation:
About the Artists
An audacious welder of dreamscapes, Tay (she/her) is a black queer set designer & DJ residing in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to her art, Tay has six years of experience as an educator and is an advocate for intentional spaces of liberation for Black and Brown youth. Tay is also a creative and performance-driven Social Media Strategist, experienced in developing comprehensive social media plans and strategies, optimizing SEO, performing market research, and monitoring the performance of promotional campaigns.
Zella (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in New York City. Their work aims to be a mirror for Black queer people across the diaspora, visualizing our beauty, divinity, and liberation. They earned an MFA in Interaction Design from the School of Visual Arts; and served in the US Army as a satellite operator with deployments to Iraq and Haiti.
Iman (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based producer, movement artist, writer, and model. She has collaborated with artists such as The Weeknd as a movement artist, and her choreography has been featured in the 2020 Student Academy Awards. Her degree in Social & Cultural Analysis from New York University concentrated on the politics of vulnerability— through what historical, social, and economic infrastructures has our society jeopardized the livelihood of many for the benefit of few?
In addition to her artistic practices, Iman founded and ran +4 Film Festival, a festival for short dance films. She has worked with The Cut, CNN, Genius, NBC, and other production companies varying in museum exhibits, ecommerce, and independent films.
This event is part of the Pink Flamingo: Clubs In Flux Group Exhibition at the cell theatre.