Who Are You Doing This For ?

Set Design, Socialite, 2018

Lumber, Plastic, and Glass

“Who Are You Doing This For ?” is an art installation organized and produced by 1919 that aimed to critique and speak back to the role of the consumer or the audience in the works of Black and racialized artist's cultural production. This art installation framed the performances of two Black musicians behind an 8-foot x 8-foot set that elevated a large partition canvassed with mirrors. The partition not only acted to divide the space between the audience and performers but made the audience face their reflection as they listened to the performances. The rupture here lies within the act of having to watch yourself while you consume the musical production of these artists, hinting at the irony between consumption and performance in relation to exploitation. Where there is an audience there is a performance! 1919 hopes you consider the implications of being complicit in the exploitation of Black artists and communities.

The framing of the viewer as the subject of the performance rather than the performers themselves, calls into question themes of surveillance, gaze, subjectivity, exploitation, and consent. Thank you to @sante.rose and @n9ne6 for pushing our ideas miles ahead with their incredible performances and Eesha Wajahat for archiving this event. Photography by Eesha Wajahat.