Pulse: Entanglements of air and light in pandemic academia (2021)

As part of a special section in an issue of Technoetic Arts called “Nestworks,” led by Amy Huestis, I wrote some musings on air, pulse and light. This paper is only part of a prolonged process with the “Nestworks” group, which began as a College Art Association panel and expanded into a dialogue of creative works amongst the members. We all presented work to each other and responded to each others’ work.

This was deep within the throes of the pandemic, and I was depleted by the persistent social violence of academia and equity battles in Florida. A number of my academic colleagues were deeply committed to limited, backward, or oppressive structures and legislations under the pretense of honouring the university’s “R1” research level status. I had utterly lost interest in articulating or validating my work within academic structures and instead wrote a piece reflecting on the emotional, political, and social processes I was going through, in the context of light and air. Please also see Breath^work, created with Kenya (Robinson).