SPECIAL PROJECTS

To and Fro is a pilot project that brings together Primary’s Public and Artist Development Programmes. The project pairs four Primary residents / members with four non-resident artists who connect with our Public Programme.
The core of the programme is some paid time for each pair of artists to share their practice and develop new ideas together, with the potential for ongoing collaboration and exchange beyond To & Fro.
Sonya Dyer and Beth Kettel (Primary) are one of the four participating pairs in the project.
The core of the programme is some paid time for each pair of artists to share their practice and develop new ideas together, with the potential for ongoing collaboration and exchange beyond To & Fro.
Sonya Dyer and Beth Kettel (Primary) are one of the four participating pairs in the project.


Art Night presents TRAILERS (2020)
Message to our children in the Northern Hemisphere, on observation of their deleterious conditions and in respect of their fatigue, dated circa June 2020 (Earth Time). Sent with haste. Location: RA 0h 42m 44s | Dec +41° 16′ 9″.
Message.. continues Hailing Frequencies Open, Dyer’s ongoing body of work intersecting the Greek myth and constellation of Andromeda, actor Nichelle Nicols’ astronaut recruitment activism and the complex genesis of HeLa cells, the first human materials sent into Space. This poster features an inscription in Morse Code, purportedly received from the Andromeda Galaxy in June 2020. This message formed the basis of Dyer’s commission for Art Night 2021.
Influenced by sources including Derrick Bell’s The Space Traders (1992), Alice Coltrane’s compositions, the diasporic longings of roots reggae and the ubiquity of digitally disseminated misinformation, Message envisions an inter-galactic communiqué which speaks to the urgency and peculiarity of now.
Message.. continues Hailing Frequencies Open, Dyer’s ongoing body of work intersecting the Greek myth and constellation of Andromeda, actor Nichelle Nicols’ astronaut recruitment activism and the complex genesis of HeLa cells, the first human materials sent into Space. This poster features an inscription in Morse Code, purportedly received from the Andromeda Galaxy in June 2020. This message formed the basis of Dyer’s commission for Art Night 2021.
Influenced by sources including Derrick Bell’s The Space Traders (1992), Alice Coltrane’s compositions, the diasporic longings of roots reggae and the ubiquity of digitally disseminated misinformation, Message envisions an inter-galactic communiqué which speaks to the urgency and peculiarity of now.

Constructing Realities, Bartlett School of
Architecture (2018)
Space architect Barbara Imhof and artist Sonya Dyer explored the possibilities of space as an environment for future habitation both materially and conceptually.Architecture (2018)
Constructing Realities took an interdisciplinary look at innovative processes, technology and design in the built environment.

Research Network: aPOCalypso at Iniva (2017)
A post-Afrofuturist conception of possible futures was the focus of this event, part of the Stuart Hall Library Research Networks 'Virtualities' season, on 28th May.
The Politics of Food and Outer Space at The Delfina Foundation (2014)
'The Seed of the Future,' a performative presentation by …And Beyond Institute for Future Research (ABIFR), presents research on the relationship between food cultivation and astronauts well being.The presentation proposed Callaloo / Amaranth as the Space food of the Future and posited ABIFR’s central proposition of re-imaging Space travel as a form of feminised labour.

Paul Robeson Research Station at Site Gallery (2011)
Paul Robeson Research Station presented a series of screenings, discussions and live mapping, which culminated in a choral performance.
Through discursive platforms, tomato growing and using the idea of the ‘anthem’ as a transnational symbol, the project aimed to explore the legacy of Robeson as a symbol of workers solidarity, social justice and internationalism. Read More ︎︎︎

HFO: An Occasional Podcast is an experiment in long form conversation and a prelude to a (very) occasional podcast series to come, featuring the fantastic An Duplan.
Visit Delfina Foundation for the full conversation.
With thanks to the entire Delfina team for their support.
Visit Delfina Foundation for the full conversation.
With thanks to the entire Delfina team for their support.

The title references one of the Greek words for time, in this case indicating the most opportune moment for action. The text intersects speculative fiction, Space science, Greek mythology and contemporary figures including Octavia Butler, Michelle Obama, Nyota Uhura and Ursula LeGuin.

Or, Dark Fecundity, the Center for Afrofuturist Studies, Iowa City (2018)
At PS1, Dyer worked on developing prototype Space vessels inspired by the architecture of early Soviet Space vessels first used to send cells into Space, using tape to create zones within the gallery inspired by the Orthodox Jewish practice of Eruv and the ‘ready room’ used by Captains within Star Trek and other speculative Space travel narratives.
What happens when we recognise Dark Fecundity as a source of power?

In some far off place.... at Cubitt Gallery, London (2018)
As part of 'In some far off place...' at Cubitt Gallery, London, Sonya Dyer presented the performance 'Anansi Tings,' taking on Human Animal Relations Across Temporalities and Continents aka Why I Never Kill Spiders.
Jamboree (2018)
Jamboree 2018 took place at the Dartington Estate, Devon, 0rganised by LOW PROFILE.
Via the …And beyond Institute for Future Research, workshop participants were posed the following question:
How are we going to live with each other in the future?
Inspired by the work of Octavia Butler and Franko ‘Biffo’ Beradi, the collective were asked to consider how art might help us in the act of reclaiming our collective ability to imagine a future different to our present.
Via the …And beyond Institute for Future Research, workshop participants were posed the following question:
How are we going to live with each other in the future?
Inspired by the work of Octavia Butler and Franko ‘Biffo’ Beradi, the collective were asked to consider how art might help us in the act of reclaiming our collective ability to imagine a future different to our present.

One of Four (2016)
Still from the presentation 'aPOCalypsonian Aesthetics,' given as part of the 'Propositions' series organised by the Dept of Performance at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

May Day (We Ask for Nothing) (2012)
Performance / Video, Whitney Independent Study Programme, NYC.