How do you throw a brick through the window…

How do you throw a brick through the window… is a research initiative comprised of a symposium, artist-led workshops, and exhibitions, co-organized by Tufts University Art Galleries with John Michael Kohler Arts Center taking place from 2024–2026. The research initiative invites artists Panteha Abareshi, Yani aviles, Nat Decker, Jeff Kasper, Carly Mandel, Jeffrey Meris, and Libby Paloma to engage the radical questioning of writer, artist, astrologer, and disabled non-binary Korean-American activist, Johanna Hedva: “How do you throw a brick through the window of a bank if you can’t get out of bed?” Written in the aftermath of the 2014 Black Lives Matter protests, Hedva’s text 2016 text “Sick Woman Theory” reverberates in the wake of 2020 protests for racial equity and COVID-19 pandemic. This long-term research project responds to calls for reconsideration of public streets as de-facto sites for civic action and able-bodied action as the measure of protest. Instead, participating artists offer new commissions and recent works reimagining embodied dissent informed by disabled, cripped, sick, mad, and healing frameworks.

The exhibition is co-organized by TUAG Curator Laurel V. McLaughlin and Associate Curator Tanya Gayer, John Michael Kohler Arts Center in dialogue with the artists. Exhibition design is provided by Emily Sara.

Generous support for TUAG exhibitions and programming is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The accompanying symposium and pre-exhibition programming at TUAG were supported by a Curatorial Research Fellowship for Laurel V. McLaughlin.