BLACK CORPOREAL (BETWEEN THIS AIR)

Any time our good friend Harris Elliott reaches out to us for a new project we cannot help but to get excited. The man never fails to deliver! And this latest project, Black Corporeal (Between This Air) for Julianknxx blew us away.

Julianknxx is an interdisciplinary poet, visual artist, and filmmaker who through his practice explores themes such as inheritance, loss, and belonging and their effect on personal and interpersonal narratives. He successfully uses his personal history as a prism through which to deconstruct dominant perspectives on African art, ideas, history, and culture.

His latest project, Black Corporeal (Between This Air), which was commissioned by WeTransfer, has since its release been on view both at Sadie Coles gallery and the Whitechapel Gallery. Below are the artist’s own words about the film:

 

Black Corporeal (Between This Air) is a critical examination on the relationship between materiality, and the black psyche. Exploring the idea that our ability to breathe – an act that is continuously challenged by everything from air pollution, stress and anxiety and societal prejudice – is more than our lungs ability to take in air, but a reflection of the way we live individually and together. Black Corporeal (Between This Air) engages with both the physical and metaphysical aspects of breathing and asks if we can reposition ourself through the extrinsic, the creation of black structures and realities that allow us to breathe, freely. 

Still photos courtesy of Aiden Harmitt Williams

In the video, garments from our in-house label Pattern Recognition are featured. Pattern Recognition is an exploration of fabric, pattern, print, and design; restored, repurposed, and reimagined by The Vintage Showroom. All the treatments used are developed in a completely sustainable and eco-friendly way, using very little water or energy. The pieces have been hand-dyed and hand-treated, and where chemicals have been used, they are REACH certified.

From today, one of the capes above is available to purchase in our online store, alongside a small collection of bright and colourful pieces.

Never before have our pieces looked more beautiful, or been used for something as important.