Oíhaŋbleta (In a Dream), 2023

Written By Kite .

Mnišma wakignúŋke 3, Kite, 2023. Deer hide, conductive thread, glass beads, dreams (52 in x 26 in)

Description

Oíhaŋbleta (In a Dream) is an exhibition of leather wall hangings and a sound piece by the Oglála Lakȟóta artist Kite (aka Dr. Suzanne Kite). Drawing on her doctoral research into the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), Indigenous methodologies, and Lakȟóta ontology, Kite translates fragments of her dreams into Lakȟóta geometries that she embroiders onto deer hides sourced from the Laurentian mountains. Rendered in sparkling beadwork and non-electrified conductive thread, the compositions contribute to a Lakȟóta visual language that allows multiple meanings to orbit around core semiotic associations. The hides also function as “tactile music scores” in dialog with a corresponding sound piece that similarly seeks to bring knowledge from the nonhuman realms of machines, animals, and spirits into the human realm of creation.

Documentation

Photo credit Alon Koppel. Courtesy River Valley Arts Collective.


Artworks

Mnišma wakignúŋke 1 - 4, Kite, 2023, Deer hide, conductive thread, glass beads, dreams (52 in x 26 in each)

Mnišma wakignúŋke (score realization), Kite, 2023, Audio (12 minutes)

Previous Showings

Kite: Oíhaŋbleta (In a Dream), River Valley Arts Collective, presented at the Al Held Foundation in Boiceville, New York. June 25 - October 15, 2023. Link

These artworks were created during Kite’s residency at the Stoneleaf Retreat in Eddyville, New York.

Kite .

Kite (Dr. Suzanne Kite) is an Oglála Lakȟóta performance artist, visual artist, and composer raised in Southern California, with a BFA from CalArts in music composition,and an MFA from Bard College’s Milton Avery Graduate School, and a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Concordia University, Montreal. Kite’s scholarship and practice investigate contemporary Lakȟóta ontologies through research-creation, computational media, and performance, often working in collaboration with family and community members. Recently, Kite has been developing body interfaces for machine learning driven performance and sculptures generated by dreams, and experimental sound and video work. Kite has published in The Journal of Design and Science (MIT Press), with the award winning article, “Making Kin with Machines,” co-authored with Jason Lewis, Noelani Arista, and Archer Pechawis. Kite is currently a 2023 Creative Capital Award Winner, 2023 USA Fellow, and a 2022-2023 Creative Time Open Call artist with Alisha B. Wormsley. Kite is currently Distinguished Artist in Residence and Assistant Professor of American and Indigenous Studies, Bard College and a Research Associate and Residency Coordinator for the Abundant Intelligences (Indigenous AI) project.

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