June 28, 2017
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Southern Exposure
RSVP here, limited to 25 participants

Andrea Abi Karam is a mixed-race genderqueer punk poet writing on the art of killing bros, the intricacies of cyborg bodies, trauma, and delayed healing. In response to Curious Poses, Abi Karam will read from EXTRATRANSMISSION, their forthcoming book-length poem published by Kelsey St. Press opposing the hyper-gendered subject produced by patriarchy and U.S. militarism.

Abi Karam will lead participants in poetic investigations of the visual work in Curious Poses, taking an interdisciplinary approach to constructing and deconstructing unconventional relationships with non-human bodies. Using poetic practices to untangle themes of disembodiment, power dynamics, and the self, we can explore such questions and concepts as similarly posed by John Zernan in Animal Dreams: “[D]o non-humans realize that they are ‘selves’? Do they have self-awareness such that they realize their mortality? Many posit an absence of self-reflection and make this supposed absence the primary dividing line between humans and all other animals.”

Radical Art Theory Nights are conversations about art theory, art history, or research-based art practices that reflect on narratives of the historically marginalized. Visiting writers, curators, and artists contend with both current and canonized concerns, critically engage with texts, and lead open community discussions.

Radical Art Theory Nights are facilitated and organized by Ángel Rafael Vázquez-Concepción and Leila Weefur in partnership with Southern Exposure’s Artists in Education program.