<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div>Dear All, </div><div><br class=""></div><div>I’m so happy join this soft serve space, and very much enjoy reading, watching and lurking from my screens this month up in Syracuse, NY. </div><div><br class=""></div><div>I’m writing from deep inside moments/months of loss; and sitting with your collective memories of Barbara, Carolee, Agnes, and Grace (for whom I am grateful to learn more through this space) has been meaningful. </div><div><br class=""></div><div>I think of Barbara, Carolee, and Agnes as my matrilineage, and I think of them often. I never had much of a relationship to my own mother or her family (and I’m the only artist in a family of engineers, nurses, and kindergarten teachers), but from the moment I first saw their works I understood these three women as my art moms. I don’t know how they’d feel about that, but maybe some of you might have ideas? I only met Barbara once, though she nurtured friendships with several of my friends. I never met Carolee, though it’s possible she was once in the audience for my “Beet Joy” performance (a vegan re-imagination of "Meat Joy," lol) at Judson a few years ago. Agnes I only met through the screen. </div><div><br class=""></div><div>From Agnes I learned that art happens in fields, that discarded lumps are forms too. That material and form are language that nourish the body and soul. That implicating yourself in the process of looking is an ethical apparatus. </div><div><br class=""></div><div>From Carolee I learned that tenderness, big expressive energy, sexiness, self-abjection, cats, and humor can all exist at the same time in the same artist in the same work. They don’t always have to, but they can. I still have a conflicted relationship with much of her work, but with that comes respect. Seeing her objects at the PS1 show a few years ago raised a lot of questions for me as to why we haven’t yet seen so many of these outrageous sculptures exhibited next to Rauschenberg, etc. </div><div><br class=""></div><div>From Barbara I received the aesthetics of being a joyous lesbian. So many of you have commented on her later work on aging and death, but I really need to rewind and celebrate how SUPREMELY LEZ her work is! The first time I saw Barbara’s work was in the year I first made love to another woman, and the aesthetics of her work—particularly work with optical printing, doubling, mirroring, layering and her playful edits—looked the way very good queer sex feels (which I can only describe as a liberatory revelation)! I am so grateful for the joy, playfulness, tenderness, and sincerity of Barbara and her work. I often vision her earlier work when I vision utopia.</div><div><br class=""></div><div>I’d love to share a link to a performance film I made in 2017, which wouldn’t have been possible without the influence of these three giants. It is called BUTTER BODY POLITIC, and I hope you enjoy. It is 40 mins long, and the last 15 mins is kind of a guided meditation (which you can always return to): <a href="https://vimeo.com/221578427" class="">https://vimeo.com/221578427</a></div><div><br class=""></div><div>And here’s documentation to “Beet Joy,” which I performed with artist Isaac Pool as our collaborative, maybe in 2016 at Judson Memorial Church as part of Movement Research. It is very silly, and we are pretty sure Carolee was there with an entourage and a large barrette in her hair that read “VEGAN": <a href="https://vimeo.com/168683975" class="">https://vimeo.com/168683975</a></div><div><br class=""></div><div>Warmly, </div><div><br class=""></div><div>Jessica Posner</div><div><a href="http://jessicaposner.com" class="">jessicaposner.com</a></div><div><br class=""></div><div><br class=""></div><div><br class=""></div><div><br class=""></div><div><br class=""></div><div><br class=""></div><div>_______________________________________________<br class="">empyre forum<br class=""><a href="mailto:empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au" class="">empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au</a><br class=""><a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu" class="">http://empyre.library.cornell.edu</a></div><br class=""></body></html>