LA><ART

Presented in conjunction with the group exhibition Protuberances Sept. 17 - Oct. 29, 2016), writer Litia Perta has created a new text-based public work for the facade of LAXART. The text quotes a line from the poem "Barbara Lee" by poet Fred Moten, which was selected to coincide with the 2016 Presidential Elections. More information on California Congresswoman Barbara Lee can be found here

in the season of elections (or  On the Occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the Authorization for Use of Military Force or how to say what needs to be said?)

Barbara Lee tries to reason
 

she stands up there alone
 

her voice quivers with mourning
 

and still, she is resolute
 

"let's step back for a moment,
 

let's just pause––just for a minute...
 

so that this does not spiral out of control" you could watch a youtube video
 

over and over again
 

and you do

how to say what needs to be said? what to call on? rely on?
 

how to listen? how to hear?

three days after but could have been yesterday she stands stood will stand between times
 

the only voice
 

the one

vote
 

(with sight)

Fred Moten makes a poem and when i quiet––
 

listen for what needs to be said the line comes again and again "...I had to rely on

the inside songs."
 

this beneath a phrase: "[Statement in Opposition]" how to do it? how to make a statement in opposition? how to say what needs to be said?

what needs to be said

––Litia Perta, Los Angeles, 2016