During a residency hosted by The Kitchen at Queenslab from February 15–27, Moko Fukuyama produced two new pieces as part of her project American Recordings, an ongoing series that reflects on the state of public discourse within the United States today. In the first week, the artist staged and filmed two performances featuring music compositions by her collaborator Yo! Vinyl Richie: LEVEL PLAYING FIELD and American Recordings, Act II: American Frequency. Installations and videos resulting from these performances were on view at Queenslab on February 26 and 27. This page includes documentation of and information about the works presented at Queenslab.

To learn more about Moko Fukuyama: American Recordings—a project that also includes the creation of two new films that will premiere online at the end of March—visit the project page here.

Moko Fukuyama: American Recordings is curated by Alison Burstein.

Installation Guide

Moko Fukuyama, LEVEL PLAYING FIELD, part of American Recordings, Act I: American Harvest, 2021
Felt, video (time-lapse, color; 7:00 minutes), live feed camera footage
Produced with Andy Barrett, Nana Hiramatsu, Joel Morrison, and Aaron Suggs

Created during a durational performance filmed at Queenslab on February 16 and 17, LEVEL PLAYING FIELD is an installation that records the process of disassembling and recomposing the elements of American flag. The piece is one component of Fukuyama’s larger work American Recordings, Act I: American Harvest, which focuses on Iowa as its geographical subject. The performance and installation allude to two defining characteristics of the state: its rolling plains and abundant farmlands. Through their handling of the flag, Fukuyama and her collaborators transform the national symbol into a landscape, planting the stars and stripes in new configurations across an expansive field inside Queenslab.

The installation pairs the sculptural composition with aerial views from pre-recorded and live video feeds. While the physical form is rich with material variations, the monitors and projection render the depicted area as a flattened image. Calling attention to this loss of texture, LEVEL PLAYING FIELD underscores the discrepancy between the immediate recognizability of a symbol and the manifold complexities and nuances of what it represents. 

Moko Fukuyama in collaboration with Yo! Vinyl Richie, American Recordings, Act II: American Frequency, 2021
Three-channel video (color, sound; 43:51 minutes)
Second camera operated by Aaron Suggs

American Recordings, Act II: American Frequency revolves around an ongoing conversation between Fukuyama and Keland Nance, a resident of Memphis, TN who the artist has known since 2014. After a chance meeting on Nance’s property in South Memphis, he and Fukuyama formed a relationship that took shape through a series of filmed interviews over the past seven years. Combining fragments of those discussions about subjects ranging from Nance’s personal trajectory to his views of current events, this work presents a portrait of an individual’s experiences as rooted in the place where he was born and raised.

In a performance staged at Queenslab on February 20, Fukuyama extended her exchange with Nance by inviting another interlocutor, DJ and turntablist Yo! Vinyl Richie, to engage with his ideas. Positioned in front of three video projections, Yo! Vinyl Richie created a soundscape of samples, beats, and spoken word that interpreted and responded to Nance’s narrative as it unfolded on the central screen. Fukuyama processed this communication in real time by filming the DJ and feeding the footage directly onto one of the side screens. The final screen projected live footage of Fukuyama behind her camera, filmed by Aaron Suggs.

Like the performance, the resulting installation captures the feedback loop among Fukuyama and her collaborators. Across the three videos, Nance, Fukuyama, and Yo! Vinyl Richie alternate between listening and voicing their own thoughts, as expressed in spoken word, sound, and film. Blurring the distinctions between subject and narrator, speaker and respondent, creator and viewer, American Recordings, Act II: American Frequency explores how the layers of personal experience accrue over time and in dialogue with individuals who vary in proximity and perspective.

Images: 1–2) Moko Fukuyama, LEVEL PLAYING FIELD and American Recordings, Act II: American Frequency, 2021. Installation views at Queenslab. Photos by Moko Fukuyama. 3) Moko Fukuyama, LEVEL PLAYING FIELD, part of American Recordings, Act I: American Harvest, 2021. Installation view at Queenslab. Photo by Moko Fukuyama. 4) Moko Fukuyama in collaboration with Yo! Vinyl Richie, American Recordings, Act II: American Frequency, 2021. Installation view at Queenslab. Photo by Moko Fukuyama.

Moko Fukuyama: American Recordings is made possible with support from Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts; and in part by public funds from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. 

Season programming is also made possible with support from The Kitchen’s Board of Directors and The Kitchen Leadership Fund. To learn more about the Leadership Fund, click here.