Conversation & Performance

And, And, And-Stammering: An Interview

Thu, Nov 10, 2022

6:00 PM–7:30 PM

This event will take place via Zoom. Please register here.

Legal policies and attitudes directed at immigration have long been a defining aspect of the U.S.’s national identity. In the last decade, we have witnessed an intensification of the political maneuverings around immigration, from massive deportations, threats of a border wall, and most recently, the violent use of migrants as political pawns. These stunts underscore the very fragility of the nation-state’s claim to its democratic identity, perpetuated by profound racialized fracture. Who counts? Who belongs?

As part of the exhibition We Are Beside Ourselves, artists Hương Ngô and Hồng-Ân Trương will perform And, And, And — Stammering: An Interview (2010-present), as a live zoom meeting in the format of an interrogation that engages participants as they rehearse the process of becoming a citizen. Drawing upon questions of immigration, exclusion, and the performance of belonging, And, And, And — Stammering: An Interview asks us to question the real conditions of our relationship to the state.

During the performance, the artists directly engage an audience member, who is randomly selected from a pool of volunteers, while also prompting all audience members to imagine their own responses.

Following the performance, Ngô and Trương will present a brief history of the project’s evolution in conversation with Tin Nguyen, activist and immigration attorney. Simon Wu of The Racial Imaginary Institute and Busra Unluonen student in the Ph.D. Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center, will respond with thoughts and questions for discussion, followed by Q & A with the artists.