I start my video with scenes from a car wash, a space of play for me as a child because of its moving parts and scale, even now, compared to myself. In analyzing the mechanics of the car wash, the rotation patterns, and movement, I make a space of imagination through the creation of a new “toy” from my ceiling fan. I question the concept of “tools” by creating toys that do not serve a rigid purpose but can be considered tools for one’s imagination. The tools I have designed are meant to have you see things differently, to think about the ideas of “use” and “usefulness” in the context of capitalism, where “usefulness” is valued above all. Instead, I focus on the activity of play because its only purpose is in itself: the aim is to play. I center play and challenge capitalism.
FOREMOST is an artist, educator, and social justice activist based in Los Angeles, California. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art history, a master’s degree in education, along with a multi-subject teaching credential and is currently pursuing an M.F.A at CalArts. His artforms include video, drawings, and collage. His art uses everyday materials and spaces to think about their uses, how those uses are fluid, and how that drives his imagination to speculate and appropriate new “playgrounds” as well as reclaim “playgrounds” for the Black being. He is engaged in a play practice aimed at disrupting and subverting the normal state of affairs and systems of oppression. Simultaneously, he stays within a dream space, a real space for evoking ephemeral laughter, pleasure, and enjoyment but permanently revealing socio-political conventions and biases.