Artists Reach Out: Nile Harris

Dear friends,

Welcome to Artists Reach Out: reflections in a time of isolation. I dreamed this series of interviews out of grief for my work both as a documenting arts writer and curator of live performance. In this time of social distancing, we are called to responsibly do all we can to safeguard ourselves and our neighbors. It is, literally, a matter of life and death.

But there's no distancing around what we still can share with one another--our experiences, thoughts, wisdom, humor, hearts and spirit. In some ways, there are more opportunities to do so as we pull back from everyday busyness out in the world and have time to honor the call of our inner lives.

So, let me introduce you to some artists I find interesting. I'm glad they're part of our beautiful community, and I'm eager to engage with them again (or for the first time) in years to come.

--Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody

Nile Harris

Nile Harris
(photo: Chloe Bellemere)

Nile Harris is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist working in the intersections of theater, choreography, and time-based media. His work has been presented at the Palais de Tokyo, Dixon Place, Secret Project Robot, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Movement Research at Judson Church and The Watermill Center, where his commissioned installation, curated by Robert Wilson, was featured in publications such as New York Magazine, W Magazine, Art News, and Vulture. His work has been supported with residencies at Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Abrons Arts Center, and Otion Front Studio with funding support from the National YoungArts Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Art, and Pepatián. As a performer, he has performed for various artists including 600 HIGHWAYMEN, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Malcolm-x Betts and in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions including The Inheritance and Occupied Territories.

Nile Harris
(photo: Marisol Diaz)

Do you have a current or planned project whose progress is affected by the pandemic?

Prior to Covid-19, I was working on an evening-length installment of my performance series, The Rise and Fall of the Huxtable Family which was to premiere at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance this May.

Briefly, tell me about how you got involved in the arts and in your particular practice.

I grew up a quintessential theater kid. I was fortunate to go to a wonderful magnet high school (shoutout: New World School of the Arts!) where I was allowed to explore the fullness of my identity and creative curiosities at a relatively young age.

I began writing and directing plays. I became obsessed with writing these silent dramas that told stories through activating images through scenography and moving bodies. I’ve never had any formal dance training and at the time never considered what I was making in proximity to what I understood to be “dance.” And then I moved to New York and was exposed to downtown dance and performance communities and folks working in the intersection of forms, and I thought, "This makes sense to me!"

In a more specific way, what are you practicing? And what are you envisioning?

I create interdisciplinary worlds on the stage that manipulate time and perception through the use of the body. I’m interested in making dynamic live spaces and interactive experiences that interrogate the cultural histories we embody. With that, my work questions the often insidious narratives told around those histories that enable the current power structures present in the America project.

Technically speaking, I practice failure. I am in the practice of embodied experimentation and envision a world that values experimentation as a means to radically re-imagine the world that we live in, and I believe that failure and experimentation are kindred acts.

How does your practice and your visioning align with what you most care about?

I believe that I am in a constant state of becoming, so in my practice I value the process as equal to the product. My favorite part of making a show is the collaborative nature of things. And with that in mind, I work with BIPOC individuals who challenge and inspire me, because prioritizing those voices in my work and in the world is one of my deepest priorities.

How does your practice function within the world we have now? 

I’m in the process of figuring that out and trying to be okay with sitting with the not knowing.

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DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve as Senior Curatorial Director of Gibney. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.

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