Welcome to NON:onLINE
NON:op's immersive platform for virtual performance
volume 1:2
Please Join Us
as we investigate alternative futures
through music, poetry, performance, and observation
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
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A note from NON:op's founder and artistic director, Christophe Preissing:
White Silence = Violence. ENOUGH!
In our recent Blood Lines installation, a collaboration with Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park, we remembered the violence of the 1919 Chicago uprising by saying out loud the names of Eugene Williams, James Crawford, Hymes Taylor, and others, noting the time, place, and manner of their deaths.
History repeats itself. 1921, The Tulsa Massacre. 1955, Emmett Till. 1999, Amadou Diallo. 2014, Michael Brown. 2014, Eric Garner. 2014, Tamir Rice. 2014, Trayvon Martin. 2015, Sandra Bland. 2015, Freddie Gray. 2016, Philando Castile. 2020, Tony McDade. 2020, Ahmaud Arbery. 2020, Breonna Taylor. 2020, Manuel Ellis. 2020, George Floyd. and countless others. ENOUGH!
Black people fear for their lives when jogging. Black people fear for their lives when driving. Black people fear for their lives when shopping. Black people fear for their lives in their own homes. Black people fear for their lives when watching birds. ENOUGH!
As long as white people remain silent, black people will continue to be killed, harassed, and targeted simply based on the color of their skin.
As a white man, I have benefitted from social, political, and economic policies that have given preference to those like me. And I will be safe and protected by a system that favors whiteness over non-whiteness. I do not need to fear that, based solely on the color of my skin, I will be prevented from going anywhere, saying anything, protesting, and demanding justice. I have witnessed individual acts of racism and institutional oppression. ENOUGH!
Out of a sense of entitlement comes greed (injustice), out of a desire for safety comes fear (prisons), out of power comes control (segregated housing and schools). Until everyone is safe, no one is safe. Until there is justice for all, there will be no justice. Until everyone has the power of self-determination, no one will be able to control the desire for self-determination. ENOUGH!
Why am I writing this? Because it’s time for white America to be accountable for the policies and actions of a government that has since before its inception promoted white interests over those of people of color—Institutional Bias. It’s not merely individual racist acts of one person against another, structural racism and oppression also kills the mind, body, and spirit. Because of our white privilege, we have a responsibility to call out racism when we see it, to call out prejudice when we smell it, to call out injustice when we hear it, to call out physical violence and murder when we taste it in our mouths and feel it in our bones. We know it when we witness it. It’s time for white America to step up and say ENOUGH!
This accountability applies to our own organization, and we will continue to examine our own structures and privilege. In the next two months NON:op will introduce four online, participatory projects that seek to address the problems we face as a nation.
In this, our second issue of NON:onLINE, we build on last year's BLOOD LINES performative installation with SAY THEIR NAMES, a monthly memorial that invites readers to say the names of black persons killed by law enforcement. We also invite participants to collaborate with TikTok videos in three installments of Tristan Tzara’s classic Dada play, The Gas Heart, both a revolt against art and a resistance to the bankrupt culture of post-war Europe. In July we will introduce L's GA - Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, a participatory production of Salvatore Martirano's 1968 anti-war classic that asks the question, "What masks are you forced to wear?" and American Biography, a shared archive dedicated to gathering diverse and inclusive experiences of America.
We invite you to join us as we create an alternative future.
Definitions, Readings, and Links
Institutional Bias - A tendency for the rules, policies, practices, and procedures of particular institutions to operate in ways which result in certain social groups being advantaged or favored and others being disadvantaged or devalued.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/institutionalized-bias
Structural Racism/Oppression - The ways in which history, culture, ideology, public policies, institutional practices, and personal behaviors and beliefs interact to maintain a hierarchy – based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and/or other group identities – that allows the privileges associated with the dominant group and the disadvantages associated with the oppressed, targeted, or marginalized group to endure and adapt over time.
https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/structural_analysis_oppression.pdf https://www.opensourceleadership.com/documents/DO%20Definitions.pdf
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Blood Lines: remembering the 1919 Chicago race riot
Christophe Preissing, concept sound composition
David Sundry, sculpture and visual design
Hugh Sato, mechanical fabrication and programming
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On July 27, 1919, Eugene Williams, an African-American teenager, was struck by a rock and drowned in Lake Michigan after violating the unofficial segregation of Chicago’s beaches and being stoned by a group of white youths. His death, and the police’s refusal to arrest the white man whom eyewitnesses identified as causing it, sparked a week of rioting between gangs of black and white Chicagoans, concentrated in the South Side neighborhoods surrounding the stockyards and what was known then as the Black Belt. When the riots ended on August 3, 23 blacks and 15 whites had been killed and more than 500 people injured; an additional 1,000 black families had lost their homes when they were torched by rioters.
[ https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/chicago-race-riot-of-1919 ]
Last year's Blood Lines installation remembered the 1919 uprising with long tuned wires, placed in the center aisle to separate Augustana Lutheran Church's nave into two parts, a mechanical activation system, and a wooden sculpture/resonator. The 38 deaths attributed to the riot were represented by 15 long wires tuned and timed to correspond to the distance in space and time from Eugene Williams' drowning on July 27 to each subsequent death.
In this October 19, 2019 performance, members of the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council and other neighbors from the surrounding community read the name, race, age, and time, location, and manner of death for each killing in sequence and in time with the long wires' sounding.
[ INTERACT ] SAY THEIR NAMES
In the 100 years since the 1919 uprising, we are still witnessing the death of black persons by those who would "serve and protect". We remember black persons killed in the 1919 uprising and we remember those who continue to be killed for being black. SAY THEIR NAMES and join us in a monthly online memorial to those killed in the uprising, or SAY THE NAMES of other black persons killed by law enforcement for being black. For more information on how you can participate in this video project, and a list of names of those killed in the 1919 Chicago uprising, please visit the SAY THEIR NAMES webpage. Videos will be compiled and included in a monthly online BLOOD LINES - SAY THEIR NAMES installation.
[ READ MORE AND INTERACT WITH SAY THEIR NAMES ]
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The Gas Heart
Cigar, button, nose.
Cigar, button, nose.
He was in love with a stripper.
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Wait... who was in love with a stripper?
So opens Tristan Tzara's Dada classic, The Gas Heart. Watch for this three-act video streamed production featuring Arlene Malinowski, Michael Herzovi, Hal Cosentino, Andy Slater, Clare Brennan, and KG Price with percussion by Steve Butters and a quartet of musicians.
Beginning in our July issue of NON:onLINE we will feature one act of Tristan Tzara's classic Dada play every other month.
Here's where you come in... Do you TikTok? We do!!
Create a TikTok video with one of our excerpts from The Gas Heart and you may just end up in the first act of this Dada classic! Look for nonopera on TikTok and create your own video response using the original sound in one of our Gas Heart clips. Then friend nonopera and share the clip from TikTok via email to non [at] nonopera [dot] org. Please include your name for attribution. Sharing your video with us means you agree to letting us use your video in NON:op's production of The Gas Heart.
[ READ MORE AND COLLABORATE ON THE GAS HEART ]
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NEWS
Illinois Humanities recently awarded NON:op a CARES Act Emergency Relief Grant for general operating support. Illinois Humanities activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement. Illinois Humanities is a nonprofit organization and the state’s affiliate for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Welcome NON:op's newest board member, Saba Ayman-Nolley.
 Saba Ayman-Nolley is Professor Emerita and former chair of the psychology department at Northeastern Illinois University. Her PhD in Developmental and Educational Psychology is from the University of Chicago. Her research has explored areas of non-verbal communication and creativity as they relate to Children’s understanding of social concepts and roles. She has been a board member of the Jean Piaget Society and its Vice-President of communications. She has also developed and implemented training programs and curriculum for teachers and parents. For the last ten years she has been an organizer of the Art in Response to Violence international conference. She has received over 10 research grants and authored over 75 presentations and publications.
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Internship and Part Time Opportunities
Social Media Marketing Specialist – NON:op has internship and part time opportunities in advanced social marketing that includes social medial marketing management, Content Creating and Advertising (Photo and Video), Email Marketing, and a wide range of social media platforms including, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, MailChimp, TikTok, YouTube, etc. Organization skills, ability to manage multiple projects, take direction and create campaigns that support NON:op’s vision and goals. Please contact non [at] nonopera [dot] org by July 1 to be considered for this position.
Web Developer/Designer – NON:op is seeking a web designer to take our website to the next level. Web Designer works with Social Media Marketing specialist to integrate Social Media and email platforms, integrate our NON:onLINE immersive platform for virtual performance, video hosting and live streaming, online interactivity. Zoom design? Please contact non [at] nonopera [dot] org by July 1 to be considered for this position.
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Board and Artist Opportunities
Do you support NON:op's mission? Do you enjoy immersive performances that are fun AND intellectually challenging? Want to become more involved? There are exciting board and artist opportunities as we build a more diverse and nimble organization to respond to these critical times. Please contact Christophe at non [at] nonopera [dot] org for more information.
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Support NON:op by purchasing HPSCHD@50 merch!
Also available are Musicircus T-Shirts, John Cage CDs, HPSCHD@50 buttons, and souvenir programs. Click here to order and support NON:op and its artists.
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Thank you for taking care of each other by staying indoors and practicing social distancing.
We hope you and yours are well and staying safe as we create an alternative future.
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
Christophe, Ann, Bill, Theo, Harrah, Saba, and the rest of NON:op's Artists and Board of Directors
If you are able to support NON:op's artists and mission, please donate today.
All donations are tax deductible. Thank you.
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Saba Ayman-Nolley is Professor Emerita and former chair of the psychology department at Northeastern Illinois University. Her PhD in Developmental and Educational Psychology is from the University of Chicago. Her research has explored areas of non-verbal communication and creativity as they relate to Children’s understanding of social concepts and roles. She has been a board member of the Jean Piaget Society and its Vice-President of communications. She has also developed and implemented training programs and curriculum for teachers and parents. For the last ten years she has been an organizer of the Art in Response to Violence international conference. She has received over 10 research grants and authored over 75 presentations and publications. 
