A prevalent theme in multi-disciplinary Torontonian artist Syrus Marcus Ware‘s work is identity who as a trans-BIPOC, sexuality, gender and race are of importance to him.
With works that strive for political action and revolution, his art elicits visions for a progressive and radically different world.
As part of his activism, Ware creates art to protect and preserve his community. The concept of his art envisions a future where BIPOC survives and thrives, and through his art, he hopes to cultivate that path towards a greater future.
Ware’s belief and intention to raise awareness establishes resilience for the community and spreads hope for their future grandchildren.
Ware’s fascination with the future and its advancements was inherited from his parent’s interest in sci-fi. He is greatly inspired by the sci-fi author, Octavia Butler and her method of storytelling and speculative fiction. He follows her lead in imagining a futuristic world where the representation of BIPOC prevails.
By writing and creating art about the future, he says it can implicate change, as well as shape history and pave the way for future generations, extending their ability to thrive. His speculative works reflect his hopes for the future, and in the conversation of change, Ware brings up the notion of revolution. Revolution is necessary for the security and success of black and indigenous lives.
Ancestors, Can You Read Us? (Dispatches from the Future), by Syrus Marcus Ware, is a futuristic documentary of our world and future grandchildren. It is a single and multi-channel media piece that displays video sequences of our land, people, protest, etc. The video intentionally glitches and gets disrupted, as if the transmission is being affected by environmental noise, which is relevant to the concern of climate change.
This future is set in 2078 and continues the speculative fiction where our future grandchildren persevere and are now thanking us, the ancestors, through a video message. In their message, they attempt to connect to our present and learn from our past so we can last. The voices urge the ancestors to take back the earth from the capitalist, they plead for a world that is radically different. A collective voice speaks, do you read us, we have a message for you.
The incorporation of speculative fiction and documentary is a possible approach to resolve the issue of depicting social imbalance and exploitation. Since the work is speculative fiction, it is a reality that has yet to exist, therefore, what is being shown in the film is a reenactment.
In Ancestors, Can You Read Us? (Dispatches from the Future), he creates a sense of urgency, and it pushes viewers to feel a personal punctum. The people in the video build an intimate connection to the viewer by having eye contact and dialogue. Their voices are a direct message that calls for help and action. Ware anticipates a new way to live together and visualizes the new possibility by creating examples. He shows a glimpse of the potential reality of our world, the hypothetical future acts as a precaution for the present ancestors, but uses positive imagery to fuel activism.
Instead of showing the world’s downfall and the apocalypse, Ware focuses on the successes and victories of progressive change. Living by his role model Octavia Butler’s words: “All that you touch you change and all that you change changes you,” Syrus Marcus Ware creates art to ignite change.
All images in this article are courtesy of Syrus Marcus Ware.
