nik rye

Stages of Grief (Keith Stafford was Murdered), 2021-2023

As an artist working within intermedial performance and socially engaged movements, I reference my personal experiences in relation to local and universal political conditions. As a human rights organizer who has experienced houselessness, anticapitalist dreams pervade my practice—community, freedom, solidarity, equity, radical love, and future joy. In my binary system muckraking attempts, I ironically oversimplify solutions—for instance, community vs. alienation—to reveal abusive systems of power that are complexly woven into our daily lives. Using DIY aesthetics, craft, and collaboration, I create community access points in public spaces to encourage political and empathetic discourse.

Accessibility is an integral part of my practice. Before deciding upon the form of a community access point, I invite the affected public to share their opinions as well as consent to the overall work. The community access points are built collaboratively, reflecting the hand of the people. The work is then installed, usually covertly, and opened to the public. Food is shared as well. The streets become a gallery, a dinner table, and a soapbox in which passers-by are welcome to engage. Accessibility is maximized through live-streams, social media posts, and online discussion threads. Currently, I am investigating components of communication and language in relation to the spectacle as a pathway to community-building and empathy.

Artwork Description

I photographed Keith speaking with Frank (right) from inside my performance 7 Days a Diamond. After Keith was murdered in a hate crime on Gaines Street, I responded with a participatory performance, Keith Stafford Was Murdered, which took the form of a makeshift memorial and bus shelter. This community access point was placed in the vacant space where a bus stop had stood at Gaines and Railroad before its temporary removal by the City of Tallahassee. This removal displaced Keith and contributed to his eventual murder. To aid in the vigil, I incorporated photographs of Keith, such as this one.

Quickly, the sculpture, which represented Keith’s memory and presence, began to decay after withstanding a month of Florida sun, rain, and participant interaction. The destruction of his portrait was particularly striking. After twenty-eight days of facing the elements, the photograph became sullied and sun-bleached. In the center, Keith began to fade away. Considering cultural associations with photography, this object reflects the physical impact of life on the street, but it also displays the entropic nature of memory; the soul’s diminishing aura.