BLKMSC

BLKMSC is a photo series and installation honoring three queer Black musicians and their contributions to contemporary music; Ma Rainey, Sylvester and Me'shell Ndegeocello.

after choosing the artists I sought to honor, I conceptualized three shoots using iconography associated with each. I wanted to develop a way to bring these images to life in an installation. Seeking to explore the idea of "intimate spaces" for listening to music and reflecting on how through many years, music played (and continues to) a central role in the private and personal spaces of Black people, I wanted to create an "intimate" space for music listening that encourages listeners to escape the gallery space and their environments (Broad Art Center at UCLA) and be taken to an environment that consists of Black music, history, and photography.

In addition to the furniture and props I placed in the space, I also featured two audio tracks playing through headphones; one isolating specific sounds, instruments and songs of additional influential queer Black musicians and another with a loop of contemporary Black artists that draw on musical precedents set by these artists.

My intentions with this project revolved around utilizing the space I was given to express and honor my identity as a Black queer man. Across the four years I spent in my design major, I was the only Black man in the department. It was a strange dichotomy particularly as a Black artist - I would enter the space to learn, sharpen my skills and develop as a creative, but almost all of the inspiration I found was in the Black artists that I interacted with not only outside of the classroom but on my entire journey to pursuing a creative profession. I saw this as an opportunity to honor three of the incredible Black artists that go unseen in contemporary creative spaces like this institution.