sTAR-baby

2021-NOW



sTAR-baby: 
A Multifaceted Exploration of Blackness, Capitalism, and Resilience (brief)


sTAR-baby is a post-disciplinary project blending performance art, sound, installation, digital art, and commerce to explore Black identity within the American Machine. Centered on sTAR-baby, a polymorphic, otherworldly being navigating the capitalist hellscape of pastpresentfuture New York City, the project critiques the commodification of Blackness while envisioning pathways for liberation.

Drawing from the Tar Baby story and the Fountain of Youth mythology, sTAR-baby reimagines Aunt Jemima’s syrup as both a symbol of Black exploitation and a transformative elixir. The work immerses audiences in surreal, multi-sensorial environments—part blaxploitation-era factory, part landfill—reflecting the intersections of labor, environmental degradation, and capitalist extraction.

Beyond its critique, sTAR-baby shatters identity, revealing the profound truths buried beneath fear and binary constraints. It calls on people to embrace boundless embodiment, intuitive existence, and radical care, affirming life as the ultimate truth. The project dares audiences to envision futures built on resilience, unity, and collective liberation.



SOUND



A.I. EXPERIMENTS

In December 2023, I began experimenting with A.I. text-to-image generation, primarily using DALL-E, as a way to explore the physical manifestation of sTAR-baby. This process became an existential inquiry into form, identity, and the possibilities of an imagined future. Through an ongoing dialogue with A.I., I’ve been probing questions like: What does the future look like? Who inhabits it? And how do we envision liberation within it? These experiments have become a collaborative exploration, blending my artistic vision with the unpredictable creativity of machine learning to imagine new worlds and the beings who might thrive within them.



PERFORMANCE
WALL STREET WHERE THE CA$H AT?JULY 2024, BUSHWICK, BROOKLYNWALL STREET
Public performance art intervention 
Duration: appx 1 hour



UNDERGROUNDXPERIMENS#0APRIL 8TH 2024, BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN
RUN TIME: APPX: 1.5 HRS

“UNDERGROUNDXPERIMENTS#0“ an iteration of the work in process  "sTARBABY: The Fountain of Youth", is an immersive performance art installation involving sculpture, live performance,csound, video, and A.I. about the commodification of blackness. 
*I've been thinking a lot about the black body as a mining site but simultaneously the miner at another mining site being exploited. “sTARBABY: The Fountain of Youth” is a post-disciplinary art installation combining new media, sculpture, video, and performance exploring he concept of the "tar baby" and drawing inspiration from global Fountain of Youth folklore.

Role: Concept, Installation Design, Sculpture, Performance, Music, Video, 
The video above was played by guests on their phones as they entered the space lead by “tour guides/factory workers” who were facilitating the tour of the sTAR industry facilities.
WHAT$MYWORTH_?2024, BED-STUY, BROOKLYNSUBWAYTIME SQUARE
RUN TIME: APPX: 3 HOURS 
Public performance art intervention



sTAR-baby (full description)
A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Blackness, Capitalism, and Resilience


sTAR-baby is a boundary-pushing creative project that weaves together performance art, sound, multi-media installations, commerce, and narrative to explore the complexities of Black identity within the capitalist structures of modern society. Centered around sTAR-baby, a Black otherworldly being navigating the hetero-patriarchal-capitalist hellscape of New York City, the project interrogates themes of cultural commodification, systemic oppression, and environmental degradation.

Through immersive performances, genre-blurring music, and provokative installations, sTAR-baby creates a layered experience that challenges audiences to reflect on the intersections of race, labor, and creativity. Interactive elements like immersive performances bringing people inside of the world, game shows, and live auctions blur the lines between art and commerce, critiquing the commodification of Black culture while celebrating its resilience and innovation.

Drawing inspiration from the Black Diaspora and artists like Outkast, Lola Olufemi, Octavia E. Butler, Saul Williams, and Gil Scott-Heron, sTAR-baby merges speculative fiction with cultural critique, offering a space for dialogue, connection, and resistance. It is both a celebration of Black creativity and a bold commentary on the systems that seek to exploit it.

Personal and Conceptual Framework:
As a non-binary, queer artist working in a post-disciplinary mode, my identity and approach are deeply embedded in the construction of sTAR-baby—both physically and within its figurative mythology. Starbaby’s polymorphic nature reflects the fluidity of gender, identity, and artistic practice, challenging rigid categorizations and embracing multiplicity. This queering of form and narrative mirrors my own journey and the broader struggles of marginalized communities to exist beyond binaries and boundaries.

The project’s post-disciplinary nature—refusing to be confined to a single medium or genre—parallels the ways in which Black and queer identities resist simplification and commodification. By weaving together diverse artistic practices, sTAR-baby creates a space where the personal, political, and poetic converge, inviting audiences to imagine new possibilities for resistance and liberation.

Key Themes:
  • The commodification of Blackness and culture
  • The impact of capitalism on labor and identity
  • Resilience and adaptability within oppressive structures

Artistic Modalities:
  • Performance Art: Public, Live, and streamed performances that critique consumerism and systemic oppression.
  • Sound & Music: A sonic landscape blending rap, free jazz, ambient, techno, and psychedelic funk.
  • Visual Art & Installation: Sculptural and multimedia works evoking industrial and commercial spaces.
  • Commerce as Art: Interactive storefronts, auctions, and game shows exploring the commodification of creativity.
  • Narrative: A nonlinear story of sTAR-baby, a polymorphic being embodying the African diaspora’s resilience and resistance.

Cultural and Mythological References:
sTAR-baby takes its name and conceptual foundation from the Tar Baby story in the Uncle Remus tales, reimagining it as a lens to examine the past, present, and future of Black exploitation and resistance. The tar—a black, sticky substance—represents how capitalism constructs Blackness as both a racial identity and an oppressed body. This tar is imposed onto Starbaby, an otherworldly being who navigates and transcends the exploitative systems of capitalism. This recontextualization critiques the historical commodification of Black bodies and cultures, while offering visions of liberation and renewal.

Central to the iteration of the project titled sTARBABY: The Fountain of Youth is the reframing of Aunt Jemima as both a cultural icon and a literal object of consumption. Her syrup becomes a dual metaphor: the “holy water” of the Fountain of Youth mythology and the Black extract—a valuable raw material consumed by Whiteness for vitality and immortality. This symbolic elixir represents the cyclical exploitation of Black labor and creativity.

The installation immerses audiences in a multi-sensorial environment that blends the surreal aesthetics of a blaxploitation-era Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory with the gritty realities of a recycling center, landfill, and mining site. This space reflects the intersections of labor, environmental degradation, and capitalist extraction, serving as the stage for Starbaby’s nonlinear journey through the African diaspora’s past, present, and future.

Personal and Conceptual Framework:
As a non-binary, queer artist working in a post-disciplinary mode, my identity and approach are deeply embedded in the construction of sTAR-baby—both physically and within its figurative mythology. Starbaby’s polymorphic nature reflects the fluidity of gender, identity, and artistic practice, challenging rigid categorizations and embracing multiplicity. This queering of form and narrative mirrors my own journey and the broader struggles of marginalized communities to exist beyond binaries and boundaries. The ability to constantly transform and grow.

The project’s post-disciplinary nature—refusing to be confined to a single medium or genre—parallels the ways in which Black and queer identities resist simplification and commodification. By weaving together diverse artistic practices, sTAR-baby creates a space where the personal, political, and poetic converge, inviting audiences to imagine new possibilities for resistance and liberation.

Beyond its critique of capitalism and racial constructs, sTAR-baby seeks to transcend identity as a whole, inviting all people to practice being—listening deeply, supporting the life of all things, and embracing collective care. The project envisions a world where community and interconnectedness are centered, empowering individuals to move beyond the confines of imposed identities and toward a shared commitment to liberation, mutual flourishing, and affirming life.