Buyer’s Remorse, 2024. Installed at the Dalhousie Art Gallery, 2024.
chalk, single channel video.
chalk, single channel video.
Buyer’s Remorse responds to Amiri Baraka’s nonverbal cues in his 1977 performance of “A Poem for Deep Thinkers.” Baraka’s appearance at the New College of California provoked a largely silent yet highly charged encounter between himself and the audience, culminating in a moment when an audience member publicly expressed deep disappointment with his ideals and way of thought.
This project lingers in this tension, where discomfort becomes a site of political and ethical confrontation. Buyer’s Remorse further considers how this exchange unfolded within an institution committed to ideals of social justice while simultaneously burdened by economic uncertainty and questionable ethics; a relationship that would ultimately contribute to the college’s downfall and collapse in 2008.
This project lingers in this tension, where discomfort becomes a site of political and ethical confrontation. Buyer’s Remorse further considers how this exchange unfolded within an institution committed to ideals of social justice while simultaneously burdened by economic uncertainty and questionable ethics; a relationship that would ultimately contribute to the college’s downfall and collapse in 2008.