Coding, braiding, transmission: on the aesthetic life of dark sousveillance

Abstract

Coding, Braiding, Transmission: On the Aesthetic Life of Dark Sousveillance” is a critical analysis of Tamar Clarke-Brown and Isaac Kariuki's 2017 digital startup and collaborative performance installation entitled Coding: Braiding: Transmission. In this speculative work of art, the gesture of braiding hair codes encrypted messages, staging the possibility of black women's furtive communication in the wake of mass surveillance. The argument emphasizes the fugitive possibilities advanced by Clarke-Brown and Kariuki's experimental formal strategy—identifying Coding: Braiding: Transmission as a practice of what Simone Browne calls dark sousveillance.

Keywords:

• Surveillance
• contemporary art
• New Media
• Black feminism

Notes

1 In the 2018 performance at Tate Modern, the braiders are queer hairdresser Tobi Adebajo and actresses/creative professionals Christina Ado, Eryam Dogbatse, and Charmeline Matuba. Often, there are three encoding sessions, allowing spectators to come experience one or all of the sessions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexandra M. Thomas

Alexandra M. Thomas is a queer Black feminist and art critic. Currently, she is a PhD student in History of Art, African American Studies, and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Yale University. [email protected]