Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, August 7, 1930. via Wikipedia

The words of the song “Strange Fruit” were originally penned in 1936 under the name Lewis Allan by Bronx schoolteacher Abel Meeropol in reaction to a photograph of the 1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to Billie Holiday’s memorable rendition of Strange Fruit the same again after viewing this photograph, which is part of the point of Piotr Szyhalski’s Labor Camp Orchestra, including its “cover” of Strange Fruit – to make visceral the Iraq war. To take us beyond the blaring headlines, patriotic jingoism, and national security fervor to a place that is literally unforgettable.

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Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Barbara Fluxa’s “Car project, excavating XX century´s end,” at the entrance to the exhibition, overlooking the lower floor, Chris Baker’s “Hello World! ! or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Jeff Crouse working on programming for “Invisible Threads” with Stephanie Rothenberg.

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

System77 Consortium, “ALL THAT IS SOLID MELTS INTO AIR!” (3 drones)

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Overlooking Carlos Motta’s “The Good Life” and Chris Baker’s “Hello World!” fromthe first floor.

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Piotr Szyhalski’s audio work “White Star Cluster” is in the interstitial space between floors.

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Hang scrim for Margot Lovejoy’s “Storm Over Paradise.”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

“Walls” of doubled scrim materials divide the space at LABoral but allow for a more synoptic gaze of the exhibition.

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Through scrims, looking at a projection of Hasan Elahi’s “Tracking Transience – A Month of Sundays.”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Another view of System77 Consortium’s “ALL THAT IS SOLID MELTS INTO AIR!”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Hasan Elahi plugged in.

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Stephanie Rothenberg and Jeff Crouse, “Invisible Threads.”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

AES+F, “Last Riot”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Looking from the back of the gallery past “Invisible Threads” toward “Tracking Transience”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Piotr Szyhalski’s “Labor Camp Study Room D” (far wall)

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Looking past “be prepared! tiger!” by Knowbotic Research + Peter Sandbichler

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Hasan Elahi’s “Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2006″ with Fluxa’s “Car project, excavating XX century´s end”

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Detail of bullets impacted in plexi for “Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2006″

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Harwood, Wright and Yokokoji, Tantalum Memorial – Residue

Installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History

Naeem Mohaiemen, “Live True Life or Die Trying”

Good progress installing FEEDFORWARD – The Angel of History at LABoral. Lots of artists in town now. Crew doing a remarkable job.

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Installation view, FEEDFORWARD, LABoral

We are working with Angel Borrego of the Office for Strategic Spaces for the exhibition design. The space will be divided by a series of translucent scrims, with projection screens embedded in them as necessary. I’m excited – and nervous – to see how this looks on Monday, but in the meantime, LABoral sent some pictures of the installation progress.

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Title page, FEEDFORWARD catalog

FEEDFORWARD – Angel of History, the exhibition Christiane Paul and I have been working on for a couple of years opens Thursday!

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