Otis: some thoughts on being a separate human being
16mm film transferred to video with sound, 2004
This 3-minute film examines the nature of the parent/child relationship, the conflicting emotions arising from the dual role of motherhood and the black female body as a site of surveillance and projected judgment. In the film, I am anxiously “rehearsing my lines” as I have known and heard them from memory- both from my personal history and as I have overheard them from others.
The performance examines the cusp on which violence reoccurs throughout generations. It is an exorcism of this legacy of violence in that it was filmed on the eve of my son’s birth. And in my ultimate physical extension, we are examining the nature of a relationship that is, ultimately, anchored in detachment.
