Hybrid Vigor: In The Flesh is an event series from Caitlin Abadir-Mullaly and Shanti Hands | Image: Caitlin Abadir-Mullaly
On Saturday, March 16, Caitlin Abadir-Mullaly (BFA Art 18) and Shanti Hands (BFA Character Animation 20) present Hybrid Vigor: In The Flesh at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles.
The event features video, mixed food art, a lecture on homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures as well as collaborative thinking and writing. There will also be a performance by BFA Dance student Abriel Gardner and a photostream on display featuring groups of current CalArtians who identify as mixed race.
Hybrid Vigor aims to explore “mixedness” and complex ethnic identities while celebrating those complications and correcting the misconception of racial purity. In the event description, Abadir-Mullaly and Hands note: “Hybrid Vigor is another term for heterosis – the tendency of a crossbred individual to show qualities superior to those of both parents.”
Saturday’s Hybrid Vigor is the second iteration of this event series. The first happened in November 2018 at the Women’s Center for Creative Work under the title Culture Clash: Hybrid Vigor. “Hybrid Vigor is a project Shanti and I started back in July 2018,” comments Abadir-Mullaly. “It stemmed from the suggestion that mixed race folks may have more in common with each other than either of their sides and the rejection of dividing ourselves with inadequate language such as half-this, half-that.” The first event featured physical action and group conversations in more of a workshop setting. It also included a screening of the film Hybrid Vigor, which showed mixed folks engaging in conversations about hybridity, complexity and connection.
Saturday’s multifaceted event takes place on the closing day of Chad Kouri’s exhibition The Center, which has been on display since March at Subliminal Projects. The Echo Park project space and gallery was established by Shepard Fairey and Blaize Blouin in 1995 and has aimed to give a platform to emerging and marginalized artists. The gallery’s mission statement notes: “The driving principle of Subliminal Projects is that art should be accessible to everyone and that art can come from many different perspectives and cultural niches.” Similarly, a central part of Kouri’s exhibit was to make the gallery a space of community gathering for local artists and organizations.
Hybrid Vigor: In The Flesh is free to attend and is open to all.