Established shortly after the killing of George Floyd in June 2020 and against the backdrop of global anti-racism protests, the Spitzer School of Architecture’s Floyd’s List is both a resource list and a weekly forum. It is an attempt to create spaces where we are able to communicate freely and openly; to share perspectives and experiences; to experiment boldly and bravely; to explore ideas and understand where they come from. We ask participants to be prepared to have assumptions challenged and tested and to respect the discussion house rules which precede all events. All Floyd’s List events are free open to the public.

This week’s Floyd’s List event, “Spirit in the Dark” will take the form of two short video performances by UK-based architects/artists Rosa-Johan Uddoh and Dr Thandi Loewenson, followed by a discussion. Their talk will focus on the twin roles of the imagination and creative practice as tools to navigate complex and challenging questions of race, identity, narrative and community-based practice.

Rosa-Johan Uddoh is an interdisciplinary artist working towards radical self-love, inspired by black feminist practice and writing. Through performance, installation and ceramics, she explores an infatuation with places, objects or celebrities in British popular culture, and the effects of these on self-formation. Rosa is currently the Stuart Hall Library Resident for 2020 and is also a lecturer in Performance at Central Saint Martins, London.

Thandi Loewenson is an architectural designer/researcher who operates through design, fiction and performance to interrogate our perceived and lived realms and to speculate on the possible worlds in our midst. Mobilising the ‘weird’ and the ‘tender’, she engages in projects which provoke questioning of the status-quo, whilst working with communities, policy makers, artists and architects towards acting on those provocations. Thandi is a tutor at the Royal College of Art, London, and a Visiting Professor at the Aarhus School of Architecture.

The event and discussion will be hosted by Dean Lokko.

When: Wednesday July 1st @ 5pm.

Link in bio https://ccny.zoom.us/j/96097850241