A wave of global xenophobia reminds us, again, about the fragility of our emotional world: people seem unable to talk to, empathize with, or even see the other. The recent U.S. election has spurred a burst of crisis activism, begging an important question: when should this work be rapid, and when is it better to slow down? Chloë Bass and Naeem Mohaiemen have been discussing forms of political agency invested in smaller units: friends, collaborators, neighbors, families. 

Drawing from Bass and Mohaiemen's recent works (separately and together), this conversation examines, with the audience, the possibilities of understanding, the aesthetic effects of small acts, and ways to slow down and gently amplify each other. Considering the gendered economy of emotional labor, and the sometimes-forced separations between studio work and direct organizing, how can we open our forms to more possibilities?

This event is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Once More, with Feeling (November 11 - December 23, 2016).