PLAY†PREY unfolds as a four-part cinematic gospel exploring the complex intersection of queerness, Blackness, and Christianity through the lens of childhood experience. This multi-channel film installation examines the tensions between sacred and profane, innocence and awareness, play and prohibition that shape queer Black children's relationship with the Church.
Drawing inspiration from James Weldon Johnson's "God's Trombone: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse," the work constructs a spiritual narrative that interrogates how Black Christian traditions simultaneously nurture and constrain expressions of pleasure, play, and sexuality. The architectural display frames these meditations within a transformed sacred space, while an original soundtrack—created in collaboration with KYN (Josh Casey & Yari Bundy) and featuring vocals by Sandra Lawson-Ndu—provides a contemporary sonic reimagining of traditional gospel forms.
Through this synthesis of moving image, architecture, and sound, PLAY†PREY charts a journey of Biblical reclamation, examining how queer spirituality might emerge from, rather than in opposition to, the rigid structures of Black Christian experience.
Featuring Actors: Aay Preston-Myint and Dominique Littleton | Voiceover Actor: Demetrius Cooks-Watson
Published by TELEMATIC MEDIA ARTS
CLICK HERE to Purchase
As a compliment to the multi-channel film experience, Play †Prey, artist Leila Weefur brings together voices of prayer and anti-prayer, inviting writers, Elena Gross, Creighton Baxter, Ngozi N/A Oparah, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Gelare Khoshgozaran to reflect on their relationships to God and the structures of religion.
Details: 7x10 in., 40 pages, Newsprint, Black and White Photographs by Leila Weefur, Designed by Nkiruka Oparah, Published by Clark Buckner, Telematic Media Arts, SF, CA.
Contact for password
