Inspired by the 60th anniversary of “Blues People: Negro Music in White America”,—the acclaimed book by writer, poet, political activist and Newark native LeRoi Jones, who later renamed himself Amiri Baraka—visual artists Derrick Adams, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Adebunmi Gbadebo, Cesar Melgar, and Accra Shepp have reimagined pivotal works of theirs to create five newly commissioned art installations at Express Newark that explore what it means to be a “Blues People” in the twenty-first century.
I set up all the AV for the artists’ videos, audio, and projections. Derrick Adams’ “The Holdout” was especially fun. They made a room inside the gallery with a cool DJ booth table with an amazing D&B Audio PA system. I set up the table so that you could send out out to other locations in the building by using the existing ethernet lines as audio cables. I also designed an easy-to-use live-streaming setup so that monthly special events could be easily broadcast and listened to online. Such a great crew at Express Newark.