Lenticular Horizon

April 2021, Elsewhere Rooftop, Brooklyn NY

Photos by: Luis Nieto Dickens

ABSTRACT

Light is enticing, radiating, warm, welcoming, mesmerizing. We are moths to the flame, and I want to believe at its very essence, this flame is void of controversy, opinions, politics, classism, and racism. I have reflected on my proximity to whiteness that allows me the privilege to access these resources of education and to afford the costly equipment for making works with light. I've guilted myself time and time again to take a step back from indulging in something that makes me happy - just purely experimenting with light to transform physical spaces. Making things with light is the most personal to me. It is pure abstraction when it isn't contained, and when I experience light, when I'm fully immersed in light, I don't think about identity politics and the systems that haven't served me.

As a non-binary queer person of color, my continuation to explore light as an art medium in a white-male dominated space is an act of resistance and a manifestation of QPOC indulgence, joy, and pleasure. The use of the lenticular lens in Lenticular Horizon is to actively reframe the material from its designed purpose of 2D image animation. Its extruded properties magnify and stretch light, emphasizing the individuality of each LED pixel, rather than purposefully blending and masking the sources of light. My thesis journey has focused on how I can create artworks that serve marginalized communities, and I believe that specific nightlife spaces allow for escapism, release, and liberation regardless of the identities one may hold. Lenticular Horizon is installed in a Brooklyn rooftop venue that maintains a strict zero tolerance policy for harassment, fostering a safe, inclusive environment for people to enjoy music, art, and self-expression.