ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS for Visual AIDS' 28th Annual Day With(out) Art
Brontez Purnell, 100 Boyfriends Mixtape (the demo), 2017. Film still courtesy of the artist.
Reina Gossett, Atlantic is a Sea of Bones, 2017. Video still courtesy of the artist.
Mykki Blanco, STONES & WATER WEIGHT, 2017. Video still courtesy of the artist.
Thomas Allen Harris, About Face: The Evolution of a Black Producer, 2017. Video still courtesy of the artist.
Tonia Nekkia McClodden, The Labyrinth 1.0, 2017. Production still courtesy of the artist.
Screening
Dec 01, 2017 - 9am–5pm
Dec 02, 2017 - 9am–5pm
Main Level, Lobby

ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS is the 28th iteration of Visual AIDS’ longstanding Day With(out) Art project.

Curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett for Visual AIDS, the video program prioritizes Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic, commissioning seven artists—Mykki Blanco, Cheryl Dunye, Reina Gossett, Thomas Allen Harris, Kia Labeija, Tiona McClodden and Brontez Purnell—to create new and innovative short videos, each approximately 7 minutes long, about the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis. 

In spite of the impact of HIV/AIDS within Black communities, these stories and experiences are constantly excluded from larger artistic and historical narratives. In 2016 African Americans represented 44% of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Given this context, it is increasingly urgent to feature a myriad of stories that consider and represent the lives of those housed within this statistic. ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS seeks to highlight the voices of those that are marginalized within broader Black communities nationwide, including queer and trans folks. 

The commissioned projects range from intimate meditations of a young HIV positive protagonist, to a contemporary re-imagining of 90s-era “safer sex” media culture, to a musical journey through New York exploring historical traces of queer and trans life, to accounts from formerly incarcerated women living with HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area. Together, the videos provide a platform centering voices deeply impacted by the ongoing epidemic.