Research

  • Black Interior Spatial Thought
  • GRANTEE
    Ladi'Sasha Jones
    GRANT YEAR
    2021

Ladi'Sasha Jones, "Black Interior Sculptural System (Module II) St. Louis,” 2022. Courtesy The Luminary

Black Interior Spatial Thought is both a text and sculptural system that proposes a geometric response to Black interior sociality. The textual component is an index of conceptual research-actions on Black play and design practices in the US. The sculptural system is a kit of modular and interlocking wooden discs that establishes a conceptual and participatory framework for reflecting on the built environment through speculative play. The public is invited to interact with the work through design workshops organized around a set of design prompts on world-building and mapping the local that guide participants to create a series of sculptures in reflection of the communities they call home.

Ladi'Sasha Jones (she, her) is a writer, designer, and curator from Harlem, New York. Her research-based practice explores Black cultural and spatial histories through text, sculpture and public engagement. She has written for Aperture, Avery Review, Arts.Black, Gagosian Quarterly, Houston Center for Photography, Art X Lagos, Temporary Art Review, Art-Agenda, The Art Momentum, and Recess among others. Her project, Black Interior Space / Spatial Thought was commissioned by The Shed (NYC) as a part of Open Call 2021. As an arts administrator, Jones held appointments at The Laundromat Project, Norton Museum of Art, New Museum’s IdeasCity platform, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She is currently a PhD student in the History and Theory of Architecture at Princeton University, and holds degrees in arts politics from New York University and African American studies from Temple University.