Gallery Talk: The Measure of Our Lives with K. Anthony Jones

Join K. Anthony Jones for a discussion on Sung Tieu: Civic Floor. Jones will share his research while exploring the embrace between biography and art, as it is encapsulated in Tieu’s modernist vernacular.

What is the meaning of life when we speak of lives that are in peril? How can lives be measured in size and in scale? Life is the subject of this lecture: how life is defined, and how certain forms of life are not acknowledged by the State, or are absent from the archives, or/and only realized in the broad pen strokes of a novelist’s prose. What does life mean for those who lead precarious lives, and for those who are denied humanity? Whether life can be pinned down, measured, and linguistically reached as defined by biology, biography, and history, and how these categories relate to the erection of borders and territories that are the contours and the calcification of race, ethnicity, and nationality, leaving members of society on the outside and homeless: these are the terrains which this disquisition will traverse.

This will be a hybrid event with a live video that can be live-streamed via our Facebook live at 5:30 PM. The link will also be emailed to you. 

About the Speaker

Researches at the intersections of African American literature, art, architecture, politics, history and culture, K. Anthony Jones currently holds an appointment at The Rhode Island School of Design in the Department of Theory and History of Art and Design. Jones has conducted research and organized seminars for the Harvard Art Museums, Office of Metropolitan Architects, and the Parrish Art Museum. He has worked with artists Krzysztof Wodiczko, Matthew Barney, Joshua Rashaad McFadden, Tomashi Jackson and was awarded the “Engaging Communities Award” for MANY’s 2022 Award of Merit. He has given lectures at Bard Graduate Center, and featured on the critically acclaimed podcast Helga: The Armory Conversations, produced by Helga Davis in association with The Park Armory and co-produced by WNYC Studios. Jones received his BA from Morehouse College. He earned his Master’s degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2020.