Whitney Biennial 2017

Floor 3

Born in 1983 in Boston, MA
Lives in Brooklyn, NY

James N. Kienitz Wilkins uses formal experimentation with language and performance in films that reflect on the intersections of race, class, and technology. B-ROLL with Andre, for example, features three disembodied and disguised narrators who in turn recount the titular Andre’s time in prison and his obsessions with popular culture and video technologies. By concealing their identities using a voice encoder and stock footage of a figure in a hoodie, an American icon of Black masculinity, Kienitz Wilkins invites the viewer to make assumptions about these narrators in a dance of moral ambiguity. 

Pivoting around the voir dire examination that precedes a trial in which prospective jurors are questioned about their backgrounds and potential biases, Mediums blends scripted dialogue with appropriated text from jury-selection pamphlets, automotive manuals, fast-food–franchise contracts, and blog posts. The result is a collage of semifictional characters with real-world knowledge who trade information and form alliances, ultimately emphasizing the value of autonomy within mandatory civic participation.

Screenings: April 1–2