Odyssey

Odyssey is a work that tackles the subject of erasure as related to the contributions of black workers and scientists in New Orleans to the mission to the moon. The scenic elements were inspired by Ken Hunt's poem, which was created with the declassified transcripts of communication between astronauts and ground control. The set evokes the quality of assent and weightlessness that is attributed to leaving the atmosphere. The set features the shapes of strikethroughs, which are inspired by the black lines that redacted confidential information in the original document. The strikethroughs erased information from the public's mind and poetically represented the erasure of black people's contributions. In the set, the strikethroughs leave white voids in dark matter that act as a space for the narrative to come to life through projection, lights, and movement.