Joseph Ravens
Condom Cloud
Joseph Ravens
A spectacle rooted in the urgency of Silence = Death, this durational performance, created in the 1990s in response to the AIDS epidemic when suffering was met with societal silence, gives voice to those ignored by mainstream media. It speaks across decades, echoing the silencing of marginalized communities then and now. Standing beneath a cloud of helium filled condoms, Ravens gives them to passersby, requesting they keep the moment mori until it deflates – as a reminder that silence is still deadly.
*Onsite 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Joseph Ravens received a BFA in theater, studied audiovisuals at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, before earning an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Known as an artist, curator, and academic, Ravens is the founder of Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery and faculty in the Performance Department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.