Up Close: “Go Off! Joy in Defiance” by DJ April Hunt and Rashaad Newsome

“Go Off! Joy in Defiance” is a celebration of Black queer sonic, visual, and performative traditions that takes place across multiple social media platforms, including a live-streamed DJ set and after-party. The online event opens with a new Rashaad Newsome video work, which begins with a memorial to a fraction of the countless Black lives that have been lost at the hands of systemic racism across the world and features a set by DJ April Hunt. Hunt is then joined by performers including kiki scene icon Legendary Monster Mon_Teese and ballroom commentator Precious. Connected by the rhythmic beat of Hunt’s set, Newsome, Monster, and Precious each add to the prerecorded video, taking the event from Instagram and Snapchat to Facebook Live. The virtual turn-up shifts from partiers on a dance floor punctuated by neon lights and colors to a digital space of mesmerizing visual effects. When the story of this celebration flows into Hunt’s Instagram Live after-party hosted on The Shed’s Instagram account (@theshedny), the artists welcome viewers to join the digital dance floor as “Go Off!” reimagines what a social experience can be in this moment of sheltering in place and reliance on social media. The artists play with the transitions and interruptions that happen as they move from one digital platform to another. And, they share radical joy as a form of defiance of oppressive systems that, while still existing, are crumbling around us. “Up Close” is a digital series that invites artists and creative thinkers to contribute new artworks and discussions exploring what it means to think about the world and make art right now.