Half Blue

2019 - Installation (Installation)

10:00 minutes (video)

Joe Namy


Joe Namy’s Half Blue is an installation consisting of a video, a sound, and a sculpture, that triangulates a personal experience of the artist’s cousin Khalid Jabara, who was murdered by hate crime in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U. S. A in 2016. An event that garnered international attention, Jabara’s murder led to the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act passed by US Congress in 2021. The act was named after Jabara and Heather Heyer, two hate crime victims whose murders were prosecuted as hate crimes but not reported in hate crime statistics. According to the Human Rights Campaign, the intention of the act is “to promote better hate crimes data collection as well as a more informed approach to hate crime prevention at the federal, state, and local levels”. Placed on the floor of the installation, Namy’s work features a 47-inch flashing light bar, half blue and half red, like the ones atop police cars. The alternating blue and red light seeps and pulsates, as the light bar evokes a familiar scene in many neighborhoods; one of systemic structural failure of the carceral state. Next to the light bar is a video projection accompanied by an original sound composition. The composition is interpolated with news reports and songs in what Namy calls a “playlist of getting over”. Redolent of R&B and hip-hop tracks, the playlist includes a vocal improvisation by Alya Al Sultani, as well as Arab American musician Halim El Dabh’s voice composition ADEMAELARD . In the sound composition a multitude of voices coalesce into a polyphonic elegy: the daily political othering of Arab Americans in media soundbites; the voice of Eric Garner’s daughter Emerald Snipes; excerpts from artist Etel Adnan’s book of poems Arab Apocalypse and poet Marwa Helal’s Census. Notably, Namy’s own voice relays an account of the two images that the artist took of Jabara (while testing out a new camera lens over Christmas break), that were later widely circulated in news reports of Jabara’s death. Flashing in red and blue text are facts, including the “oppression of omission” in the 2010 US Census checkbox for 3.5 million Arab Americans, and what might encapsulate this work: A SWELLING, A SWARMING, A BREATH, A LAMENT . The exhibition of this work also included communal listening and discussion. Namy is currently a Sundance Kendada / TIME Magazine fellow to develop the work into a short film.


Artist and musician Joe Namy’s practice encompasses sound, its history, and impact on the built environment. Working collaboratively through public sculptures and performances, Namy’s work considers the social construction of sound and the political forces that enable its transmission. As well, the artist’s work critically engages with the gender dynamics of sound, migration patterns of instruments, and the translation between languages, between score and sound, and between instruments, and bodies in movement and dance. Other projects by Namy explore the history and resonance of opera houses across eleven countries in the Middle East, and the archive of Arab American musician Halim El-Dabh, a pioneer of tape music (Wire Recorder Piece, 1944).


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

Political art stays peripheral at Art Basel in Miami Beach
© » THEARTNEWSPER

Political art stays peripheral at Art Basel in Miami Beach Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Art Basel in Miami Beach 2023 news Political art stays peripheral at Art Basel in Miami Beach Fair’s stands largely remain neutral despite multiple hot-topic issues in the world today Gareth Harris and Tim Schneider 9 December 2023 Share Julie Buffalohead’s Our Bodies Our Choice , in the Meridians section, references wide-ranging injustices against Native Americans Photo: Liliana Mora Should art engage with politics or offer an escape from politics? This is the question dealers, artists and collectors have tended to face in the run-up to Art Basel in Miami Beach from its very first outing...

Miko Revereza by Andrew Northrop
© » BOMB

BOMB Magazine | Miko Revereza Necessary (Required) Cookies that the site cannot function properly without...

Anonymous Was a Woman Names 2023 Grantees
© » ARTFORUM

Anonymous Was a Woman Names 2023 Grantees – Artforum Read Next: AMY HAU TO LEAD NOGUCHI MUSEUM Subscribe Search Icon Search Icon Search for: Search Icon Search for: Follow Us facebook twitter instagram youtube Alerts & Newsletters Email address to subscribe to newsletter...

Podcast 77: Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Podcast 77: Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints February 27, 2020 In this latest podcast episode, Nabilah Said, Matthew Lyon and Naeem Kapadia discuss the recent production of Fika and Fishy by Patch and Punnet, the collective’s first production for the year about the friendship between a dog and a fish...

Chinese woman, unhappy over 30-year arranged marriage, writes viral poems of love and resignation
© » SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Chinese woman, unhappy over 30-year arranged marriage, writes viral poems of love and resignation | South China Morning Post Advertisement Advertisement China society + FOLLOW Get more with my NEWS A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you Learn more 13:58 Love, freedom and resignation: the chronicles of a Chinese village poet Love, freedom and resignation: the chronicles of a Chinese village poet Lifestyle Family & Relationships Video | Chinese woman, unhappy over 30-year arranged marriage, writes viral poems of love and resignation Han Shimei, who lives in a rural community in China’s Henan province, has been trapped in an unhappy marriage for 30 years Her poems about life and longing for love became a sensation after posting them on video-sharing app Kuaishou China society + FOLLOW Thomas Yau in Shanghai + FOLLOW Published: 11:00am, 11 Feb, 2024 Why you can trust SCMP Han Shimei is a 52-year-old woman living in a rural community in China’s central province of Henan...

Miami Art Week Fairs (Other Than Art Basel) You Should Know by Scott Orr - New York
© » WHITEHOT

Miami Art Week Fairs (Other Than Art Basel) You Should Know advertise donate post your art opening recent articles cities contact about article index podcast main December 2023 "The Best Art In The World" "The Best Art In The World" December 2023 Miami Art Week Fairs (Other Than Art Basel) You Should Know Ki Smith and Sono Kuwayama...

Powerful ‘Dragon Lady’ Weaves Tales of Trauma, Karaoke — and a Very Memorable Matriarch
© » KQED

Review: ‘Dragon Lady’ Weaves Tales of Trauma, Karaoke — and a Very Memorable Matriarch | KQED Skip to Nav Skip to Main Skip to Footer The Do List Powerful ‘Dragon Lady’ Weaves Tales of Trauma, Karaoke — and a Very Memorable Matriarch David John Chávez Nov 30 Save Article Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Facebook Share-FB Twitter Share-Twitter Email Share-Email Copy Link Copy Link Sara Porkalob in 'Dragon Lady,' written and performed by Sara Porkalob, at Marin Theatre Company, in association with Center REP...

SEE WHAT SEE (Feb 2021): DESIRE
© » ARTS EQUATOR

SEE WHAT SEE (Feb 2021): DESIRE | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles February 18, 2021 By Joel Tan Welcome to my new column 1 Does “column” still make sense in the context of a website? for ArtsEquator, where every month I’ll be giving you a little line-up of Singaporean and other Southeast Asian streaming content that I think is interesting and worth talking about in my typically TLDR, long-winded way...

Mobius Gallery: Out of the Blue group show
© » THE RE:ART

Mobius Gallery: Out of the Blue group show - The re:art Mobius Gallery: Out of the Blue group show Immerse yourself in a blue state of existence, an experience of the absence of time allowing full awareness of the space where all meanings collide, change or quietly fade into nothingness...

Le Bureau des publics s’expose !
© » SLASH PARIS

Le Bureau des publics s’expose ! — Le Crédac, Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook Le Bureau des publics s’expose ! — Le Crédac, Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour Le Bureau des publics s’expose ! Exposition Architecture, danse, sculpture, son - musique.....

When I Put My Hands on Your Body
© » KADIST

Marion Scemama, David Wojnarowicz

1989

Political artist, painter, writer, performer, photographer, David Wojnarowicz, who died of AIDS in 1992 in New York City, was one of the leading figures of the New York Downtown artistic scene of the 80s...

Argentinian President Javier Milei Shutters Ministry of Culture
© » ARTFORUM

Argentinian President Javier Milei Shutters Ministry of Culture – Artforum Read Next: THE WHITNEY’S JANE PANETTA DECAMPS FOR THE MET Subscribe Search Icon Search Icon Search for: Search Icon Search for: Follow Us facebook twitter instagram youtube Alerts & Newsletters Email address to subscribe to newsletter...

Jelmaan Baharu Teater Tradisional dalam “Hikayat Cendawan Putih”
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Jelmaan Baharu Teater Tradisional dalam "Hikayat Cendawan Putih" | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Persatuan Teater Opera Mimpi Negeri Perlis November 6, 2019 Oleh Fasyali Fadzly (1,120 patah kati, 6-minit bacaan) Antara pengarah teater yang kurang dicanang dan disebut-sebut dalam pementasan teater kontemporari adalah Sharul Mizad atau lebih senang dikenali sebagai Ejad...

Secrets Between Her and Her Shadow 10
© » KADIST

Maryam Hoseini

2019

Secrets Between Her and Her Shadow 10 by Maryam Hoseini is from a series of paintings of the same title that are inspired by the story Layla and Majnun – an Arabic love story about Majnun, a 7th century Bedouin poet, and his lover, Layla...

To V and S in “Off Centre”
© » ARTS EQUATOR

To V and S in "Off Centre" | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Tuckys Photography Foreground: Saloma (Sakinah Dollah), background: Vinod (Abdul Latiff Abdullah) February 22, 2019 By Teo Xiao Ting (1,103 words, five-minute read) Dear Saloma and Vinod, I first met the two of you seven years ago, when I was 16...

Olivier Marboeuf, Bleu Pays
© » KADIST

Presented within the exhibition Not Fully Human, Not Human at All at KADIST Paris, Bleu Pays [ Blue Land ] is a poem which takes the form of an explosion, an explosion that will occur to make and to maintain a space...

The Substation’s SeptFest 2021: Endnote
© » ARTS EQUATOR

The Substation’s SeptFest 2021: Endnote | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Joelle Cecilia Quek April 15, 2021 Text and photos by Joelle Cecilia Quek The Substation’s 2021 SeptFest made a full comeback in March after 6 years, marking the 30th anniversary of Singapore’s first independent home of the arts...

50+ Fantastic Things To Do In London This Month: February 2024
© » LONDONIST

The Best Events In London: February 2024 | Londonist 50+ Fantastic Things To Do In London This Month: February 2024 By Londonist Londonist 50+ Fantastic Things To Do In London This Month: February 2024 Imagine Children's Festival returns to Southbank Centre this February...