UC San Diego

tether is a multi-channel video installation produced as a result of the first auto-biographical video piece Imade two years ago, entitled synonyms of orange. The video piece reimagines my childhood experiences of playing tetherball, an elementary school recess game that was my first introduction to play. The installation physicalizes my desires through a series of durational videos & sculptural objects that transcend tetherball using Igbo masquerade aesthetics. tether , the thesis piece, becomes part of an ongoing filmic color series that consists of several films that use ‘play’ to explore my imagination and create new fictional realms. The thesis paper documents the internal and creative processes of producing synonyms of orange & tether. In documenting my journey, I reflect on “muscle memories” and “blood memories” that have allowed me to arrive at the thesis work.

The thesis paper is divided into two cycles. Each cycle addresses how the two seminal pieces engage indifferent forms of play to center my body & personhood as a former athlete. These also become statements on how gestures of play are a way to remain autonomous from the structure of regulated sports. Cycle one is about my personal athletic history and how I use the color orange as a way to further speculate upon my relationship to tetherball. Cycle two refers to the thesis work and how the color red connects me to ritual & breathe.