Goodbye Dreamland
Photo: Kaitlin Gladney
[Text that is spoken on track]
Here we sit at the precipice of all that is known and unknown.
Some of you hide in the shadows
and others in plain sight
When you sleep at night, is it with eyes wide shut? Or do you see all the faces, and bodies and hair and skin and feel...
do you feel anything?
are you feeling anything?
Some of you hide in the shadows
and others in plain sight
This work is inspired by the spirit in which techno was created, and utilizes technologies that were available to young Black folks in Detroit in the early days of the movement—all in the service of creating a kind of beauty that has held and continues to hold so many through musical expression. I made this piece as a moment of reflection on the existing system of capitalism and the preciousness and necessity of this moment.
It is a time for listening, for reexamination, and for saying goodbye to that which does not serve us, especially the most vulnerable of us.
Rena Anakwe aka DJ Lady Lane
[Track sampled: Carl Craig's “Dreamland” and took inspiration from “Goodbye World.”]
Rena Anakwe is an interdisciplinary artist and performer working primarily with sound, visuals, and scent. Exploring intersections between traditional healing practices, spirituality, and performance, her practice uses creative technology to focus on sensory-based, experiential interactions. Currently, Rena is a 2020–21 resident of the Abrons Arts Center AIRspace performance program. She was also a 2019 ISSUE Project Room artist-in-residence, a 2019 Abrons Arts Center Sound Series commissioned artist, and a 2018 Signal Culture artist-in-residence. She has collaborated, produced, and shown work at New York City institutions including Fridman Gallery, Knockdown Center, Lincoln Center, MoMA PS1, CultureHub, Pioneer Works, and Montez Press Radio. Most recently, under the moniker A Space for Sound, Anakwe released the first in an ongoing audio series titled “Sound Bath Mixtape vol. 1”, through the New York City-based label and collective PTP. Rena is based in Brooklyn, New York, by way of Nigeria and Canada.
