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AFRAM, African-America, is an inner space reality for Black exponential potential of Being. In AFRAM, Black people can dream. We can wake up. We can build. Black people can be Black and Indigenous at the same time.  We can be alone. We can be angry. We can be Trans. We can be lazy. We can trust. We can be uncertain. We can be innocent. We can be mediocre. We can be evil. We can be bored. We can transform. We can BE. 

I begin exploring the concept and reality of AFRAM while in residence at A Farther Place, Ballroom Marfa’s sound residency during Covid-19 shutdown. Since then, I have created many studies and artworks centered on AFRAM. D.R.E.A.M. = A WAY TO AFRAM is the one of these ideas.

D.R.E.A.M. = A WAY TO AFRAM (DIFFRACTION + RESTORATION + ELECTROMAGNETIC ANALOGUE OF MASS = A WAY TO AFRAM) is a formulaic method of representing the expansion of the universe to reveal safe spaces for all black beings to be in their bodies. Consider two dream spheres colliding: black people resting in peace, merging with the sounds of the Earth's dreams.

Using sound, video, soft sculptures, and elements of performance, Harris engages in AFRAMATIC actions and revival technologies to share how compositional theory D.R.E.A.M. = A WAY TO AFRAM can be used as a direct pathway to liberation. This D.R.E.A.M. formula explores how sound can awaken dormant potentials in our DNA. Participants are invited to slow down and rest in a bed of sonic rejuvenation.

D.R.E.A.M. = A WAY TO AFRAM is about imagineering various technologies and applied sciences to continue the ancestral practice of creating safe places for black people to exist abundantly on this planet and beyond. Similar to the ways in which black inventors created spirituals, blues, trance, and house music to transport to different dimensions as a means of joy and survival, D.R.E.A.M. = A WAY TO AFRAM investigates the alchemical compounds of wave patterns, abstract movement, rhythm, and dream sounding to activate a network of portals around the world.

D.R.E.A.M. = A Way to Afram features visual collaboration with interdisciplinary artist, Alisha B. Wormsley, developed through a series of site-specific performance activations filmed between 2021 and 2023.

Li(sa E.) Harris and Burniss Earl Travis II perform D.R.E.A.M. = A Way to Afram, in "Sleep on It," 2023

video by Tamirah Collins

visual art installation "Sleep On It", a part of Unlit: Sof Landin, a solo exhibition by Li(sa E.) Harris at Ballroom Marfa.

Sarah Melendez, curator.