Steffani Jemison
In Succession (Means)
To mark the opening of Steffani Jemison’s solo exhibition, Tumblers, the Centre will debut a live performance conceived and scored by the artist, held in its galleries on June 7 and 8.
In Succession (Means) (2024) is a new performance that activates Steffani Jemison’s Untitled (Projection) (2024), the artist’s most ambitiously scaled sculpture to date. This pipe-and-fitting structure is comprised of modular metal parts, assembled at right-angles to form a pyramid-shaped armature that recalls a cage or a jungle gym.
The performance juxtaposes the sculpture’s stark geometries with the movements and dialogue of two performers, who “partner” with this inanimate object the way one might dance with another person. Working from Jemison’s original score, the two complete a series of tasks on, around, and through the sculpture, which functions variously as scaffold, prosthesis, ladder, pole, playground, and web. The accompanying narration is inspired by a historical episode in which incarcerated people sought temporary release by building a human pyramid—a tenuous structure of mutual support.
In Succession (Means) considers live performers themselves as means rather than ends, evoking moments of social and physical isolation and connection—both the irreducible “I” and the provisional “we.” The work thus poses questions about the liberatory power that might be found interdependency. How do we find freedom with, rather than freedom from, one another? Can everyday movements—the kinds that pass directly from one body to the next—help us learn to be of service to one another in the future? And what forms might that “service” take?
Concept, composition, direction: Steffani Jemison
Performed by: Nimia Gracious,Tschannen Loren and Steffani Jemison
Researched with: Jaleel Porcha, Ke’ron Jamaul
Special thanks: Amanda Aponte
In Succession (Means) is made possible with support from Creative Capital
