Sula Bermúdez-Silverman, Table for Eleggua, Table for Elijah

Table for Eleggua, Table for Elijah, 2018.
Removal of Faux Locs Installed by Nkechi Diallo (aka Rachel Dolezal), single channel video, 14:42.
Duck Test, video triptych, ~10 minutes.
Materials: clay dominoes, level vials, tar brush, Drakels, spork, Elijah’s Cup, Manischewitz concord grape wine, seder plate, salt water, Polly pocket, Lazy Kate, artist’s hair, herramientas de Santería, 7 knob green candle, butt plug, kanekalon synthetic hair, Eleggua head, offerings for Eleggua: ache de santo, cascarilla, chamalongos, cowrie shells, coyote teeth, guinea pepper (grains of paradise), clavo de linea, jutia pescado humado, macutos, brass bell, obatala egg, toasted corn.

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Neither Fish, Flesh, or Fowl

neither left, right, nor third eye.
neither Larry, Moe nor Curley
neither id, ego nor superego
neither Kelly, Michelle, nor Beyonce
neither rock, paper, nor scissors
neither Harry, Hermione nor Ron
neither Blossom, Bubbles, nor Buttercup
neither sugar, spice, nor everything nice
neither executive, judicial, nor legislative
neither isosceles, scalene, nor equilateral
neither father, son, nor holy spirit
neither blood, sweat nor tears
neither nitrogen, phosphorus nor potassium
neither Churchill, Roosevelt nor Stalin
neither e, i, nor π
neither the icosahedron, the octahedron, nor the tetrahedron
neither past, present nor future
neither Athos, Porthos nor Aramis
neither Papa Bear, Mama Bear nor Baby Bear
neither Red, Green nor Blue
neither Red, Yellow nor Blue
neither Red, Yellow nor Green
neither Huey, Dewey nor Louie
neither protons, neutrons nor electrons
neither Carbs, Fats nor Proteins
neither vanilla, chocolate nor strawberry
neither core, mantle nor crust
neither igneous, metamorphic nor sedimentary
neither the truth, the whole truth, nor nothing but the truth
neither of the people, by the people nor for the people
neither small, medium nor large
neither appetizer, main course, nor dessert
neither work, rest nor play
neither Endomorph, Mesomorph nor Ectomorph
neither Endoderm, Mesoderm, nor Ectoderm
neither archaea, bacteria nor eukaryota
neither Homo habilis, Homo erectus nor Homo sapiens
neither life, liberty nor the pursuit of happiness
neither liberty, equality nor fraternity
neither the good, the bad nor the ugly
neither the Niña, the Pinta nor the Santa Maria
neither bacon, lettuce nor tomato
neither Cancer, Scorpio nor Pisces
neither Aries, Leo nor Sagittarius
neither Libra, Aquarius nor Gemini
neither Capricorn, Taurus nor Virgo

Born in New York, Sula Bermúdez-Silverman is an artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. She earned her BA in Studio Art from Bard College in 2015, and studied at Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design in London. She was awarded her MFA in Sculpture from the Yale School of Art in 2018. She has had solo exhibitions at the University of Texas at Austin, Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas, and the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, CA.