Help our little Lenox with a Big Beautifully Bright Future!
The Plan: Release a video, created or co-created, every day during Black History Month 2022.
The Purpose: To plant some financial seeds for Lenox (Daughter of Kari Mosel and me).
The Ask: We've started an investment fund for our little Lenox, which will become available at age 26.
If you have the financial means, please consider contributing to Lenox's future. Consider the art our personal thank you, and feel free to share.
You can give directly to the fund via this link: https://gifts.acorns.com/?code=4TI4ZL or Venmo me directly @Brian-Evans-29, tagged with the Lenox Fund.
A little will go a long way when compounding interest!
Much love and gratitude!
Day 1 of 28:
Cookie Community
Moonlighting as a Creative Arts Minister at a church in Minnesota, St. Andrew Lutheran Church. I put this together from a larger project that Kari Mosel and I shot for a Minneapolis-based, TU Dance.
Day 2 of 28:
Lasting Impressions
On the scenic shores of Alki Beach, Seattle, WA, Lasting Impressions was shot to capture the way life flows past and our hope to make lasting impressions to those around us.
Day 3 of 28:
Here I Am
I made this for Church Anew an organization that “offers dynamic learning opportunities to ignite faithful imagination & sustain inspired innovation.” It honors those we’ve lost along the way to a collective and restorative justice.
Day 4 of 28:
Preamble Prologue
Amir Locke was murdered on Feb. 2nd, 2022 by the Minneapolis Police under the guise of a no-knock warrant. He was not named in the warrant. Preamble Prologue asks the question, who is a part of the We, in “We, the people…”. Who is truly and equally protected as a U.S. Citizen? Will Lenox be?
This video is a draft version, a part of an up-and-coming video art series called Do Process. Rush Benson and I have been looking deeply into the constitution and whether we need to re-draft such a document for today’s issues or is the original worth it continued amending to “secure the blessing to ourselves and our posterity…” We ask you: Do Process.
Day 5 of 28:
#AllyShit
A draft video of the Do Process series. Rush Benson (Smoke) and I (Marcus Williams) interrogate the veneer of allyship v. deep community.
Day 6 of 28:
On With The Show
This is the oldest work of the LOPsided series, first premiered in 2007, and has since been filtered through the experiences of growing up as a person of color. Every location in this video is both idyllic and dangerous. As a person of color, a serene scene can abruptly turn into a moment when I must raise my hands to demonstrate I am not a danger. The perception of "what" I always proceeds the "who" I am and yet, the show must go on and, I assure you, it does.
Day 7 of 28:
Those Sunsets
Those Sunsets is meant to conclude the LOPsided series and it explores bittersweet-inevitable endings. Co-Written with Shahar Eberzon prior to her departure from the states. Twenty-seven amazing artists responded to an open call for contributions and I am so appreciative of their generosity!
Day 8 of 28:
Up with the Bird
How many voices live inside you? “Up with the Bird” was commissioned in 2015 with the funds I was awarded by the McKnight Artist Fellowships for Dancers and Choreographers. Tamara Ober choreographed the work centering a spoken word poem given at TED2006, synergizing all the talks that happened during that event. The work asks the question, when all the voices and sound-bites are stripped away, who’s voice will remain? Will it be yours and what will you say?
Day 9 of 28:
Dear Mom
I love you, mom! Dear mom, is a tribute song to my mother Kari Evans! As well as all kinds and all types of mothers!!! We love you to the moon and back! Your work does not go unnoticed.
Day 10 of 28:
Ma
“Ma” is a LOPsided series investigation of song unpacking racial mixedness and the spaces between liking and loving, oneself and others. Embodying the arts is not something that occurs solely on a stage but it runs through even the most mundane parts of outlives, popping up throughout the day.
The Japanese concept of “Ma” is something that relates to all aspects of life. It has been described as a pause in time, an interval or emptiness in space. Ma is the fundamental time and space from which life needs to grow. Space for the Japanese psyche directly impacts the individual’s progress. These principles are universal, when applied effectively they enhance the way one thinks and how one engages with one’s surroundings. Japanese can visually identify with the meaning of Ma from its kanji symbol. Ma combines door 門 and sun 日. Together these two characters depict a door through the crevice of which the sunlight peeps in 間.
Day 11 of 28:
O’ Night
O’ Night was commissioned by Church Anew and explores how we love each other by seeing ourselves in one another. It plays off the lyrics of Oh, Holy Night’s final verse.
“Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother and in His name all oppression shall cease”
As someone raised in the Lutheran faith, I’ve come to understand that there is a significant chasm between the world we live in and the world we wish to see. Typically, Christ is presented as the bridge to redemption, but in my experience, it is empowered people that form ever-inclusive coalitions and equitably empowered communities who seems to be closest to enacting sustainable change.
“It’s hard to hate close up. Move in.”
~Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
Day 12 of 28:
An Ode to D
I penned An Ode to D in 2006, a junior in College and it stayed dormant for nearly a decade. I imagined it to be a check-in with my dad (Duane Evans) who passed in ’93 when I was seven. Being a new dad currently, the poem has taken on more layers of emotional texture.
Shortly before his death, we moved from Cleveland, OH to Gaylord, MN. I can only imagine how that life transition felt like to my dad and this poem is an attempt to compare life notes with him. Were his thoughts just as intensely chaotic as mine are? Me and my Dad: Calm exterior; a passionate fury within.
Day 13 of 28:
Yoke
Yoke is the fastest song I have ever written and with that comes all the things I was thinking about at the time. My brother, long-distance relationships, the oppressive weight of racism, classism, capitalism, the trained apathetic response to empathetic cues, the best way to explain to my hopes and dreams for this lifetime. Put simply, I wish we all could come home! To be wrapped up in the feeling of belonging. I suspect we’d be able to be our best selves more often than sometimes.
Day 14 of 28:
Moments of Suspension
Moments of Suspension: Songs & Spoken Word set from the before times, on Feb. 1st, 2020 at Cedar & Spokes Coffee & Bar. This one is an entire evening-length show and perhaps a great way to celebrate the connection with your loved ones. Know that I love you and I appreciate all of the love you have sent my way in the past.
Day 15 of 28:
Indeterminate
Indeterminate is a dance video that focuses on the undefined. Using embodiment methodologies that require undetermined planning and the trust that what will be cobbled together will possibly make sense of the question: Can the indeterminate be legible?
Day 16 of 28:
Passing Time
Passing time was commissioned for Flying Foot Forum’s 2015 show at the Guthrie Theater, in Minneapolis, MN. It’s a percussive tour de force following a pair of high schoolers as they navigate the passing time.
I LOVE THIS PIECE! Working alongside Rush Benson is a joy that everyone should have at least once in their lifetime and I’ve been fortunate to make multiple works with this amazing human. With Rush you always get more than you expect, so here is the triptych.
Day 17 of 28:
Mixed Man
As an interdisciplinary artist and a mixed-race human, there seems to be a requirement that I must construct myself from identities (Not Whyte enough, Not Black enough, Not Enough…enough) that I can not be in order to be legible. Mixed man is a rebuke of that sentiment and an acknowledgment that I am, we are, a plurality of identities. A confluence of perspectives that flows in and out of fluid states. Which can become calcified all too often when we become exhausted by the numerous expectations of this culture.
I admit I am tired. Yet, in an empowered community, I am rejuvenated!
Day 18 of 28: Nina
Nina Simone performed “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” in Montreux, Switzerland in 1968, and her performance, saturated with power and conviction make the sentiments expressed resonate so profoundly.
Being Free to Be.
If you were to cut a cross-section out of my heart, you’d see layers of oppression like sedimentary lines attempting to turn my spirit to stone. Yet, if you dig deep enough you’ll find a conversion engine as in stars: fusing righteous rage & unfettered hope into lasting love.
I love you… and that to me, is freedom.
Day 19 of 28:
Love Each Other
Watching the impact statements of Daunte Wright’s family followed by the sentencing of Kimberly Potter, was heartrending. In their statements, Love was the focus and I stand resolved that love will see them through. Love, however, in the abstract, as a free-floating aspiration is not the love that I ascribe. Love needs to be a verb, it must be actionable, it has got to be embodied.
Easy to say… (type).
I find solace that Love is all-encompassing and in rejecting the binary (all of them) I can be rage-fully loving and despairingly hopeful. I invite us all to embody love… please.
Day 20 of 28:
Stitches
"Stitches" comes off the Back to Simplicity album Shahar Eberzon and I created in just over 3 months. A few years later, I subsequently took a walk around my neighborhood with my partner Kari Mosel and we made our first attempt at a music video (it has not been our last).
As a metaphor, “Stitches” brings to mind the pain that comes with healing. Often, healing is presented as a linear path from pain to relief, when in my experiences, the scars left easily conjure up the hurt associated with potent memories but it also reminds me of what the ability to risk has brought to my life.
Day 21 of 28:
Shine I
I wrote this poem two days after the Charlottesville protests and the murder of Heather Heyer. Attempting to reckon with the reality that there are folx who would rather not have me exist in this world. A part of the LOPsided series, this poem originally proceeded a dance work by the same name.
I’ve since had a chance to walk down Heather Heyer Way, in Charlottesville, VA, receiving an in-depth lesson on Virginia’s racial history by visiting the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center & touring UVA (University of Virginia) who have been doing some outward-facing reconciliation work on the matter.
The history is out there. The history historically has been systemically erased. Our history must be reconciled to ensure Herstory is Bright.
Day 22 of 28:
Shine II
In my research for LOPsided, I came across Canadian poet Shane Koyczan who is a fantastic performer, writer, and empath. I was so moved by Shane's poem “Shine” that I commissioned Cynthia Gutierrez a brilliant artist, choreographer, teacher, friend, parent, human to collaborate on making a companion dance piece.
"Shine in the dark places, lend the world your light." ~Shane Koyczan
Day 23 of 28: Crazy
Crazy — Being told you are less than and expected to become more than or be the representation of all.
Crazy — Being terrorized and murdered by the first point of contact with the criminal justice system and expecting that same system to produce justice.
Crazy — Being a diversity hire for any institution attempting to do anti-racist work and that same institution is shocked when you have a new perspective to share.
Crazy — Running your entire life, getting nowhere and you best be happy with it because at least you are doing something you love (I see you humanities).
Crazy — Imagining a world liberated from the oppressive systems it so desperately hangs on to in order to experience a moment of joy recognizing your own brilliance!
One of these things is not like the others.
Day 24 of 28: S.A.M.O. Like a Fiery Comet Jean-Michele Basquiat Shoots Across the Sky
I had the honor of sharing the stage/garage with Paul Herwig’s Off-Leash Area and am thankful to have been able to go on such an artistically wild and emotionally exhaustive journey of rapturous demise.
Jean-Michele Basquiat’s graffiti artist name was SAMO, short for “Same Old Shit.” Out of Russia, we are bearing witness to the same ego-maniacal, self-righteous ideologic colonialism mindset that ripped apart Basquiat at the age of 27. SAMO. Jean-Michele became the object of interest that was to be subsumed by the whims of propped-up propagandized pop culture. SAMO. WWIII’s kinetic phase began February 24th, 2022… SAMO. When will we stop insisting on destroying one another?
Day 25 of 28: Right Now
**Video Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse**
Right Now is a call to action for self-identified men to aid in the dismantling of the patriarchy. In other words, everything we have as humans in this world is because of womxn! We, as self-identified men, have an opportunity every day to proactively remove the toxicity out of masculinity and promote the equity that gender fluidity requires.
Strength in compassion, courage in vulnerability, equity through empathy, modeling excellence that empowers the confidence to pursue non-violence and commit to poly-perspective listening to implement sustainable outcomes. Femininity Encapsulates Masculinity, we become our whole selves when we emulate and embody the totality of our humanity.
I will continue striving to improve. Please, continue to hold me accountable. Thank you!
Day 26 of 28: Brian J Evans: Performer Reel
I’ve had the great honor of the years to work with amazing humans and artists. This performer reel assisted me in my enrollment into the University of Washington Dance MFA program! I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to share the stage with all those on this reel and the many many more that comprise the reel of my artistic heart!
Day 27 of 28: Making It Count
As parents are want to do, we focus a lot of energy on our littles. We can de-center ourselves so much that we lose track of the tremendous record that is our lives that brought us to this triumph of ultimate care and love. Gustavus Adolphus College, my undergrad alma mater, approached me to create a profile on my life and how I have been making it count as a part of their most recent recruiting campaign. This profile was an opportunity to take stock and recount how Gustavus has impacted my life and the existential question: Does my life count?
As an artist of color, my work is the foil for locating my humanity between challenging the systems that would rather me not exist and the joy that comes with accomplishment within those systems. Managing the imposter syndrome that accompanies tokenization easily commingles the euphoria of success and the self-hatred of selling out. With this in mind, the most significant accolade I can offer about my time at Gustavus is that I learned how to cultivate an ability to embody my humanity and, on my best days, be a more loving and compassionate person as I do so.
Day 28 of 28: Proof
“Proof” comes from the Do Process Series interrogating the racial bias within the criminal justice system.
**Links will guide you to relevant sources.**
THE GIVEN: Being a citizen of the United States of America is required to be considered fully Humxn within the U.S. Criminal Justice System.
THE PROPOSITION: What additional proof is required for a U.S. citizen of color to be regarded as fully humxn?
THE STATEMENTS:
4. A protective force officer is authorized to use deadly force.
THE REASONS:
1. Only people that are convicted of committing capital crimes and offenses are eligible to receive the death penalty. Crimes that fall into this category include murder, espionage, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and treason. As of 2020, the death penalty is legal in 25 states. A total of 22 states – plus Washington D.C. – have abolished the death penalty, and three states have a governor-imposed moratorium. The three states with a governor-imposed moratorium are California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. (This means that if you are afforded the benefits of due process, in half of the United States—NO MATTER WHAT YOU DID—you would be able to survive the process.)
2. More than 8,500 people have been sentenced to death in the United States since the 1970s.
5. [In 2021], the rate of police shootings of Black Americans is much higher than any other ethnicity.
THE DIAGRAM: see video.
THE SOLUTION: an incomplete list
— Revise Policies and Laws with Disparate Racial Impact
— Address Implicit Racial Bias Among Criminal Justice Professionals
— Reallocate Resources to Create a Level Playing Field
— Revise Policies that Exacerbate Socioeconomic Inequalities
— Redirect Public Spending Toward Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment