Sick Time, Sleepy Time, Crip Time: Against Capitalism’s Temporal Bullying

March 31–May 13, 2017

Curated by Taraneh Fazeli

Fia Backström
Jesse Cohen and Carolyn Lazard with Canaries
Danilo Correale
Jen Liu
Zavé Martohardjono
Sondra Perry
Carrie Schneider
Cassie Thornton
Constantina Zavitsanos

Sick Time, Sleepy Time, Crip Time: Against Capitalism's Temporal Bullying focuses on how the body is articulated in various discourses oriented around health. (Note: “Crip” is a political reclaiming of the derogatory label “cripple.”) It proposes that better incorporation of the states of debility, disability, and rest into society (particularly their temporalities) could be resistive to forms of oppression and provide possibilities for rethinking collectivity. Dragging on, circling back, with no regard for the stricture of the work week or compulsory ablebodiness, the time that this multi-prong curatorial project investigates is non-compliant. It refuses a fantasy of normalcy measured by either-in-or-out thresholds and demands care that exceeds that which the nuclear family unit can provide.

We are all united by the fact that we will experience fluctuating states of debility throughout the course of our lives whether we currently identify as sick or not. Furthermore, many of us are exhausted from living and working in a capitalist system as insufficient infrastructures for care have further deteriorated. Considering the fact that the failures of public health and biomedicine are felt by some disproportionately due to race, class, gender, sexuality, etc., this project provides a platform to explore collective forms of healing to deal with structural processes of exclusion and the way in which trauma is held in the body. To this end, artworks dealing with care, illness, fitness, sleep, somatic sustainability, labor, alternative temporalities, and wellness culture will be shown at EFA, with an exhibition on life/work balance providing a locus for ongoing conversations about transitional architectures for relief and potential repair.

Sick Time, Sleepy Time, Crip Time is made possible with the generous support of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Core Residency Program and The Idea Fund.

EVENTS

At EFA Project Space:

Sick Time, Sleepy Time, Crip Time opening reception: Friday, March 31st, 6-8 PM

Secret Chakra: Feminist Economics Yoga, a workshop with Cassie Thornton: Friday, May 12, 6:30-8:45 PM

Survival Creativity, artist talk + workshop with Carrie Schneider: Saturday, May 13, 1:30-3:30 PM

Rubbertime, a performance by Zavé Martohardjono and Sick Time closing reception: Saturday, May 13, 4-6 PM

In Houston, TX:

The Growth and Its Perennials, a performance by Fia Backström: Saturday, April 8th, 6-7 PM at Lawndale Arts Center

A video screening with Jen Liu and Sondra Perry and the Houston launch of the Canaries' publication Notes for the Waiting Room: Saturday, April 22nd, 2-4 PM at Lawndale Arts Center

Liminal Bodies, a workshop with Zavé Martohardjono: Sunday, May 21 at The Montrose Center (time TBA)

Secret Chakra: Feminist Economics Yoga, a workshop with Cassie Thornton: Sunday, May 21 at The Montrose Center (time TBA)

FOLLOW-UPS

Sick Time, Sleepy Time, Crip Time: Against Capitalism's Temporal Bullying has been presented three more times, at the Bemis Center in Omaha, NE, the Luminary, St Louis, MO and Red Bull Arts Detroit, MI.

Exhibition Photography: Matthew Vicari