FILM SCREENING / Lay Me Down in Praise

​Join us in the library for an artist talk and special presentation of Lay Me Down in Praise, created by multidisciplinary artist Justen LeRoy. This film asks how the scream, moan, and melisma—also known as the vocal run— provide a sonic route toward Black environmentalism.

​LeRoy layers clips of Black performers with images of geological activity. Through this juxtaposition, the artist considers how resistance and regeneration inhabit the wordless screeches of the Earth and the history of Black sound. Lay Me Down in Praise insists the Earth's aches and upheavals, felt in volcanic eruptions, tectonic shifts, and other cataclysmic events, are entangled with Black resistance and liberation.

​ABOUT THE ARTIST

​Born and raised in Los Angeles, Justen LeRoy seamlessly intertwines music, film, visual art, and performance to explore the intersections of sound, spirituality, and geology. LeRoy is the executive director of SOUNDSYSTEM, a multidisciplinary platform that investigates the ever-evolving form of sound and its relationship to the world around us. Through innovative public programs, exhibitions, a publication, a multimedia practice, and a nomadic structure, Soundsystem looks to build an intergenerational audience across class and geography that seeks to be immersed in the study and production of sound art, musicianship, and the technology that advances it.

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​IMAGE: Film still from Lay Me Down in Praise (2022-23) courtesy of the artist.