Alexis Peskine

The aim of this residency is to seek information from which to draw inspiration in order to finish writing and producing the script of my film Reverse, as well as creating a body of artworks (my signature nail adorned pieces) within the next year. The film and the works of art will be exhibited at the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta (ADAMA). Reverse evokes an apocalyptic revolution fueled by a global state of trance. Part of the film has already been shot and edited into a short version, and I will start with interviewing Hoodoo priests, historians, theologists, preachers, curators and artists around Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana beforehand, so that I may finish writing the synopsis and the script of the feature length version. Secondly, I am going to seek for professional contacts in the abundant film industry of Atlanta, in order to help me with the writing, production, special effects and other technical aspects from the cinema realm, which as a visual artist, I am not yet acquainted with. I will additionally be looking for potential actresses and actors as well as locations for potential scenes from my film that needs to be shot in the U.S.A., in the near future.

“The A” (short for Atlanta) is also an amazingly creative hub for artists, musicians, dancers and filmmakers, that birthed countless artistic movements in all art forms and I’d like of course to delve into the spiritual dimensions of these multiple expressions.

I chose Atlanta as a base, to visit sites such as Dunbar Creek where the historical event of Igbo Landing occurred, and to research how African faiths led to rebellions; how trance helped enslaved Africans to transcend extremely brutal and depressing conditions. What are the correlation between trance and creativity, trance and escapism; how survival through African beliefs gave way to powerfully beautiful new cultures and expressions? Is there a thread between embodiment of Orishas (Spirits and Deities in Yoruba spirituality), catching the Holy Ghost or getting Crunk? Are those expressions manifestations of pure freedom from within, or total control from beyond? To acquire this knowledge, I will interview historians such as Eola Dance of the National Parks, or Sunn m’Cheaux in South Carolina to learn about Gullah Geechee culture and history. I will inquire about ancestral African spiritualities influences in contemporary culture, to find out how American Hoodoo is similar and different from Beninese Vodoun or Brazilian Candomblé. Georgia is an ideal place for that matter as is home for many Hoodoo priests whom I will consult. I will look for symbolic objects to use as metaphors in my Artwork and film. I will visit archives from local Historically Black Colleges and Universities from Spellman, Morehouse or Clark Atlanta, seek recommandations on writings and knowledgeable people to consult, talk to theologists, worshippers, choreographers and dancers, observe Church services and places where people dance freely, seeking for for the ways in which spiritual expression survived countless ways of repression.