How do you throw a brick through the window…

How do you throw a brick through the window… is a research initiative comprised of a symposium, artist-led workshops, and exhibitions, co-organized by Tufts University Art Galleries with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center taking place from 2024–2026. The research initiative invites artists to engage the radical questioning of writer, artist, astrologer, and disabled non-binary Korean-American activist, Johanna Hedva: “How do you throw a brick through the window of a bank if you can’t get out of bed?” Written in the aftermath of the 2014 Black Lives Matter protests, and now rethinking Hedva’s text in the wake of 2020 protests for racial equity and COVID-19 pandemic, this long-term research project considers the troubling of public streets as de-facto sites for civic action and able-bodied action as the measure of protest. Instead, participating artists offer research on various forms of embodied dissent informed by disabled, cripped, sick, mad, and healing frameworks and methodologies in past, current, and future projects.

The symposium is co-organized by TUAG Curator Laurel V. McLaughlin and Associate Curator Tanya Gayer, John Michael Kohler Arts Center with TUAG Exhibitions Assistant Meera Chauhan. Featuring artists: Panteha Abareshi, Yani aviles, Nat Decker, Jeff Kasper, Carly Mandel, Jeffrey Meris, Libby Paloma, with keynotes from Amanda Cachia and torrin a. greathouse.

This symposium is produced by the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

For access needs, please reach out to Meera Chauhan, meera.chauhan@tufts.edu.

*What is ASL and CART? ASL is American Sign Language offered by live interpreters on Zoom. CART stands for Communication Access Real-Time Translation, which offers real-time captioning that is often more accurate than computer-programmed offerings.