whereas as if

“So, they acted as if they were free, 
enacted moments of liberation, 
tried on happiness—a doing in futurity.” 
—José Esteban Muñoz

“Whereas/As If” reimagines the utopian possibilities embedded in the everyday lives of Black people at the turn of the 20th century—moments where paradise was found, even if only briefly, in the radiant ordinariness of existence outside of the white gaze. This work positions the Black experience as a site of reclamation and redefinition, a paradise continuously conjured through joy, resistance, and futurity.

The installation draws inspiration from the conditionality of the Emancipation Proclamation and Muñoz’s reflections on liberation, asking: what does it mean to live “as if” freedom were fully realized? By engaging deeply with familial archives—photographs and artifacts inherited from my great aunt—I construct a polytemporal sanctuary, a space where Black life defies the confines of racialized, colonial narratives. These images, depicting laughter, leisure, and community, act as portals to a utopian “paradise found,” illuminating the ordinary beauty and agency within historical moments often framed solely by trauma.

“Freeing yourself was one thing, 

claiming ownership of 

that freed self was another.” 

—Toni Morrison,  Beloved.

Whereas/As If honors Blackness as both a state of being and a radical act of world-building. The installation includes archival photographs with intentional cut-outs, layered text on white walls and windows, suspended imagery, and soundscapes that echo collective imaginings of liberation. This multisensory environment invites visitors to witness and participate in the creation of temporal autonomy—a space where future, past, and present coalesce. It foregrounds the utopian within the mundane, celebrating the ways Black people have continuously found, lost, and reimagined paradise against the backdrop of systemic oppression.

“Whereas/As If” asserts that even in the face of loss, the ability to dream, to enact joy, and to “try on happiness” is an enduring act of liberation. It affirms that paradise is not destination but a practice, one that Black life has always embodied, redefined, and reclaimed.