The art of art-making goes through many unique processes: prompts, inspiration, feedback, collaboration, frustration, improvisation. One constant in this process is play – the notions of experimentation, risk, and curiosity.

State of Play invites you to join the creative process through a curated artistic exchange, presenting premieres and works in progress from artists across the Bay Area and the US paired with engagement activities designed to bring audience and artist closer together.

Premiered at Surge, UC Santa Cruz’s Afrofuturism Festival, this excerpt of the triptych closing piece m|ou|f aims to reclaim Black iconicity from the maw of celebrity culture. Having explored the legacies of violence and faith for blaQ communities in our prior projects, mouth full of sea and mouth//full, our latest collaboration is a meditation on visibility, opacity, sexuality, and the desire of & for queer(ed) Black stars. Using drag, ritual masquerade, original music, and choreography, we investigate the voices that made us question ourselves in the most delicious and fruitful of ways (work in progress).

All members of the public are invited to participate in curated discussions, games, debates, and panels with the artists.