Ways Of Transforming w/ Every Ocean Hughes

Ways of Transforming Participatory event with Every Ocean Hughes and screening of One Big Bag (2021, 40 mins) Organized by Prem Krishnamurthy Saturday, May 18, 2024, 5–7pm with karaoke after! Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art 44 Troy St, Fall River, MA 02720 KADIST and Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art presents Ways of Transforming, a participatory, multi-modal event and screening organized by Prem Krishnamurthy with artist, death doula, and creative coach Every Ocean Hughes. The event marks the first screening in New England of Hughes’ One Big Bag (2021) from KADIST collection. At turns both tragic and comedic, One Big Bag is a 40-minute film that meditates upon the essential and yet mostly unseen work of preparing the bodies of those who have passed away. This participatory program will feature a discussion between Hughes and Krishnamurthy around themes and tools of transformation, transition, and therapy. Inspired by Hughes’ decades-long performance and pedagogical practice, the event will incorporate movement, conversation, journaling, mindfulness, and feedback—plus, some karaoke practice to close! Please join us for a unique event to explore how transformation takes place even through what seems like the end. This collaboration is part of KADIST’s ongoing international program Double Takes, which activates film and video works through physical and online presentations at partner institutions. About the film Every Ocean Hughes wrote, staged, and directed the video work One Big Bag, which takes the form of a monologue from a perspective of a doula to explain the materials that comprise an end-of-life doula’s toolbox. The video’s narrative is the result of interviews with end-of-life doulas, as well as the artist’s own experience and training. The video is a window into a hidden world, where the materials and rituals revealed are both quotidian and employed in unexpected ways. A sense of play, but also reverence, and a capacity for reaching into the beyond pervades the video. The actor Lindsay Rico who plays an end-of-life doula, leads viewers through the conditions and situations of death. Hughes wrote the script and directed Rico to embody “competence”, defying and transforming the general (and often unspoken) taboo of talking about death in public. The work has a spiritual presence; its radiance is built, amplified, and sustained through the actor’s vivid attention—often looking directly at the camera—and graceful movements. One Big Bag is part of a series of three works that address different aspects of death and dying. The other two, Help the Dead and River are both sixty minute live performances. One Big Bag was originally conceived in context to the culture and history of LGBTQ kinship and care. The series’ resonance expanded during the pandemic, which saw millions of deaths, transforming the context that surrounds the work—a perspective that Hughes welcomes. _____________________________________ Every Ocean Hughes (formerly known as Emily Roysdon) is a transdisciplinary artist and writer. Solo shows include Whitney Museum of American Art (2023), Studio Voltaire, London (2022), Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2022), Secession, Vienna (2015), and PARTICIPANT INC. New York (2015). She has received commissions for new work from Tate Modern, London (2012, 2017), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2014), and The Kitchen, New York (2010). Group exhibitions include Museum of Modern Art, New York (2014, 2023), Hammer Museum and Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2021), Future Generation Art Prize at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (2010), and the Whitney Biennial (2010). Collaboration has been a central part of her practice including as editor and co-founder of the queer feminist journal and artist collective LTTR, lyric writing for several bands and costume design. She's curated several exhibitions and screening series at Tate Modern (London), Grand Arts (Kansas City), X Initiative (New York), AiR Gallery (Brooklyn), and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. Hughes also works as a coach for artists, creative producers, and those that love them—West Street Coaching. www.everyoceanhughes.com @every_eoh Prem Krishnamurthy runs Department of Transformation, an artist-organized group that explores art as an agent of transformation for individuals, communities, and institutions. His multidisciplinary work manifests itself in books, exhibitions, images, performances, publications, systems, talks, texts, and workshops (+ karaoke!). He received the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Communications Design in 2015 and KW Institute for Contemporary Art’s “A Year With…” residency fellowship in 2018. He has curated several large-scale exhibitions including FRONT International 2022: Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows. His book-length epistolary essay, On Letters, was published in 2022. Having previously founded Project Projects and P!, he is currently a partner in the design consultancy Wkshps. www.premkrishnamurthy.com @prem_krishnamurthy _____________________________________ About KADIST KADIST is a non-profit contemporary art organization that believes artists make an important contribution to a progressive society through their artwork, which often addresses key issues relevant to the present day. Dedicated to exhibiting the work of artists—from more than one hundred countries—represented in its collection, KADIST affirms contemporary art’s role within social discourse, and facilitates new connections across cultures. Its local hubs in Paris and San Francisco organize exhibitions, physical and online programs, and host residencies. KADIST stays apprised of developments in contemporary art via a global advisor network, and develops collaborations internationally, including with leading museums, fostering vibrant conversations about contemporary art and society. www.kadist.org/ About Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art (FR MoCA) is a contemporary art space located in Fall River, MA. FR MoCA presents culturally relevant programming that is in dialogue with the global contemporary art world while simultaneously engaging in regional histories and shared experiences. The organization exists in a perpetual state of experimentation and works with varied collaborators to illuminate the shadows of past industries and allocate cultural resources. As an extension of this mission, FR MoCA has led guided tours, hosted workshops, provided internship opportunities, and taught Social Practice classes to local area high school and college students. www.frmoca.org/