San Francisco, California (February 14, 2024) – Gray Area is pleased to present They Sustain Us, the world premiere of a new, multimedia, performance artwork by Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) artist, Skawennati.

They Sustain Us is Skawennati’s latest machinima work and fashion collection. Built and filmed in the virtual world Second Life, and expanded into the physical world as garments and a runway performance, They Sustain Us brings to life The Three Sisters: Squash, Beans, and Corn—mythic figures from time immemorial reimagined as futuristic superheroes. This two-night debut begins with a fundraising premiere on March 22 that includes a Curator-Led introduction, a reception, and an Artist Q&A featuring Philip Rosedale, entrepreneur and founder of Second Life, followed the next day, March 23, by an accessible encore performance.

They Sustain Us tells an untraditional story of the Three Sisters, beloved personifications of three North American Indigenous staple crops: corn, beans, and squash. The Three Sisters are also known among the Haudenosaunee as Our Sustenance, which translates directly from Mohawk as “they sustain us.” The Three Sisters have been a part of Haudenosaunee culture for as long as they have cultivated corn, beans, and squash together. Many stories about them exist. One explains that the sisters can’t live apart, and Western science concurs: the beans rely on corn’s sturdy stalk as they wrap themselves around it to grow upwards, while providing nitrogen-fixing bacteria to her sisters. Squash, planted at the base of the corn and beans, provides shade and helps to retain moisture. These stories transmit aspects of traditional knowledge from which the rest of society can benefit–not only the science, but also the care and kindness inherent in the Three Sisters’ relationship.

“Skawennati’s inclusive, hybrid space for Indigenous peoples and their allies demonstrates an
expansive vision for the open metaverse, which Gray Area is uniquely positioned to support,” said Barry Threw, Executive Director at Gray Area. “It is a privilege to incubate and host this project, which finds a welcome home amongst the diasporic community here in San Francisco’s Mission District.”

Featuring physical and virtual costume design and set construction, They Sustain Us aims to bring to life contemporized digital reimaginings of the Three Sisters as mythic heroes. Through interaction with the audience and live models, these digital avatars will share their knowledge of growing; their opinions on sustainability and food sovereignty; and their perspective on the feminine power of life-giving. The piece unfolds across a three-channel film installation, various costumes and physical objects, and a fashion show performance. They Sustain Us is rooted in Skawennati’s practice as a machinima filmmaker, which involves designing, performing, and shooting within virtual environments. As in all of Skawennati’s work, Indigenous Futurism guides the narrative storytelling in the piece, which is then brought to life off screen by the physical garments worn by models.

During both shows, Skawennati’s Calico & Camouflage: Assemble! (2021) will be on view in the Gray Area Gallery. Calico & Camouflage is also a three-channel, immersive machinima film and represents some of Skawennati’s early work in hybrid fashion design. This presentation bridges the artist’s pasts experiments to the new and expanded developments presented as part of They Sustain Us. And, just like in They Sustain Us, the looks from Calico & Camouflage bring fantastic virtual designs into physical form. As resistance wear, they empower wearers to simultaneously proclaim their indigeneity and their readiness to resist ongoing assimilation.

They Sustain Us is developed by Gray Area in collaboration with Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC).

They Sustain Us is made possible by a Hewlett 50 Media Arts Award granted to Bay Area cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The presentation of They Sustain Us is generously supported by equipment from Epson.

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PRESS IMAGES

About Skawennati:

Considered one of the first Indigenous net artists, Skawennati investigates history, the future, and
change from her perspective as an urban Kanien’kehá:ka woman and as a cyberpunk avatar. Her artistic practice questions our relationships with technology, and highlights Indigenous people in the future. An early adopter of cyberspace as both a location and a medium, she creates machinimas and
machinimagraphs (movies and still images made in virtual environments) as well as sculpture, fashion,
and performative experiences. Since 2007, Skawennati has been creating work within the virtual world
of Second Life, where the machinima component of They Sustain Us was designed, produced, and filmed.

About Gray Area:

Gray Area is a San Francisco-based nonprofit cultural center that advances interdisciplinary research
and empowers education in creative technology. We support interdisciplinary creators in building the
future of responsible technology and propelling positive social transformation. Since its founding in
2008, Gray Area has established itself as a critical hub for learning in the Bay Area, while also reaching a global community through online courses and programming.

We provide free programming, workshops, and resources to support greater access and visibility for
underrepresented creators as they approach today’s most pressing social, civic, and environmental
concerns. Gray Area Festival, which has been held annually since 2015, offers a space for deeper
engagement with topics around art, technology, and social impact. Through our incubators, residencies, and rotating schedule of public events, Gray Area helps inspire, nurture, and share groundbreaking research and emerging creative practices.

About Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC):

Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace is an Aboriginally determined research-creation network whose goal is to ensure Indigenous presence in the web pages, online environments, video games, and virtual worlds that comprise cyberspace.

About the William + Flora Hewlett Foundation:

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world. For more than 50 years, the foundation has supported efforts to advance education for all, preserve the environment, support vibrant performing arts, strengthen Bay Area communities, make the philanthropy sector more effective, and foster gender equity and responsive governance around the world. Today, it is one of the largest philanthropic institutions in the United States, awarding over $516 million in grants in 2021 to organizations across the globe to help people build better lives.

About the Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions in Media Arts:

Created in honor of the Hewlett Foundation’s 50th anniversary, the five-year, $8 million Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions are a symbol of the foundation’s commitment to artistic expression and public engagement with the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2022, the Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions, in Media Arts, supported leading artists in partnership with an array of Bay Area cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations. The commissioned artists have developed major new works that incorporate elements of many artistic disciplines, including dance, music, and theater, with cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, genetic engineering, and robotics.

“These new commissions in Media Arts celebrate a group of outstanding artists who are merging
longstanding storytelling and performing arts traditions with emerging technologies to create art that is fresh, contemplative, and spirited,” said Emiko Ono, director of Hewlett’s Performing Arts Program. “We’re honored to support these exciting projects that weave together the performing arts and
technology and will deeply resonate with Bay Area communities.”

Previous recipients of the awards include luminaries such as composer Meredith Monk, multimedia
artist DJ Spooky, and vocalist The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, who created works commissioned by Mills College, Internet Archive, and Art + Soul Oakland, respectively.

Gray Area is among 10 commissioning organizations to receive the grant, selected from more than 100 applications through a process administered for the Hewlett Foundation by Creative Capital; the
commissioned works will premiere over the next three years at a range of Bay Area cultural centers and institutions. The 2022 Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions cohort includes Gray Area, / (pronounced slash), AXIS Dance Company, Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, Institute of Contemporary Art San José, Long Now Foundation, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Other Minds, The Exploratorium, and Leonardo/ISAST.

Media Contact:

Wade Wallerstein, Associate Curator
[email protected]
+1 650 379 5156