CURRENT EXHIBITION

My Life in Fiction

Kianga - My Life In Fiction

My Life in Fiction is composed of a trilogy of new works for the gallery and an audio walk for the Mt. Vernon cultural district (Charm City Remix). Not a survey but a culmination of the last eight years of working with narrative as a cultural modality, the core idea of the show is the experience of narrative immersion. The site-specific audio piece is a new addition to the ongoing series The Story of This Place. The three works for the gallery include Brasilia, a faux ethnographic film; Defragmentation, a performance installation; and The Quiet Room, an audio installation and reflecting space.

Contemporary Museum - Baltimore

NEW WORKS

Charm City Remix

Charm city Remix

Part of The Story of This Place series of site-specific narratives, Charm City Remix is informed by the stories I encountered in Baltimore during my time in the city. The final narrative is influenced by the range of elements that make up this contemporary place—from its unique position in the history of American industry and politics, to its uncommon racial demographics and more common strife, to the increasing televisual presence of all of the above by way of David Simon’s The Wire.

The score for the piece, developed by the work’s collaborating composer, Erik Spangler, invokes Baltimore’s relationship with musical histories from the military drum and fife to Billie Holiday to the contemporary sample-based “Baltimore Club” music.


Charm City Remix on Current TV

NEWS

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Exhibition

My Life in Fiction.
September 20 - November 23, 2008

Contemporary Museum
Baltimore, Maryland

I’m opening my first solo museum show at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore on Saturday, September 20th. If you’re in ear-reach, please come by. Included in that show is Defragmentation 1.0, Prototype for a Narrative Isolation. The performance will be live from September 24th-October 1st

Baltimore Live Preview
Baltimore Sun Review
Baltimore Sun Swift Pick

Exhibition

1968: Then and Now
September 25 - November 22, 2008

NYU Tisch and the Nathan Cummings Foundation

1968: Then and Now explores an era when a multitude of social movements climaxed in discontent with political order, particularly in the United States, that was rooted in domestic racial inequality and imperialist foreign policy. It also serves as a reflection on the presence of the memory of that period in our hearts and minds 40 years later. Curated by Deborah Willis, university professor and chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging, the exhibition combines historical and contemporary images that construct diverse stories about the culture of resistance, beauty, power, and the notion of disenfranchisement. “Today, our world is saturated with iconic images that reflect upon and draw from 1968,” said Willis. “The work on view will transform the viewers understanding of identity, resistance, war, and peace.”

Conference

ART + ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE
October 2 – 4, 2008

Nevada Museum of Art

Global interest in the intersections of nature and culture has broadened in recent years. In this expanding field, contemporary artists and designers have re-envisioned the concept of environment. To better understand the ideas shaping this dialogue, the Nevada Museum of Art will host creative practitioners whose works explore natural, built, and virtual environments.

what’s neXt: Artists Imagining the Future
In his recent book X Saves the World, Jeff Gordinier suggests that Gen X innovations in art, technology, and activism have come to define the way we live today. This session brings together Gen X artists, designers, and writers whose work aspires to change the way people view and experience the world. Katie Holten explains how her artwork engages the natural landscape while investigating the relationship between the individual and his or her environment, and artist Kianga Ford explores narrative sound installations in an effort to alter the way viewers understand the changing demographics of urban and natural environments. Jason Houston, of Orion Magazine, discusses how he uses photographs to frame the way a new generation of environmentally conscious readers will view and understand the world.
Participants: Fritz Haeg, Katie Holten, Jason Houston, Kianga Ford
Moderator: Jeff Gordinier

New Commission & Residency

October 15 - January 20, 2008
Project opening January 15th

Syracuse Warehouse Gallery

New Project Grant

Asian Cultural Council

I was recently awarded a research grant for The Story of This Place in Tokyo. Keep your eye on the coordinates!

New Project

Brown University
Look for the project to open next winter.

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