Black Boots in the Summer
Javarius Jones
Black Boots in the Summer contains three sections.
One is a self-reflexive dialogue between Nuyorican fashion illustrator/virtuoso Antonio Lopez’s and me, focusing on states of being and becoming through the lens of body. It provides fluid imagery, responding to my desire to express a more truthful, public self who does not conform to any one sexual or gender identity in any space or time.
in otha words, i talk about the parallels between the work of me and dis fly ass nigga from the 80s. and how our work can save niggas if understood as real, if understood that nigga’s bodies can shapeshift, so to speak, at *anytime, anyplace fr fr.
Another embodies a diary, beginning the first day of thesis. At the end of undergrad experience, I am rage, I am love, I am tide but mountainous. A three-year romantic relationship taught beauty, while the battle for freedom (no fear) has affirmed one doesn’t need wings to fly but an imagination–which Grandma always knew: “You can do anything you put your mind to, Tré.”
in otha words, i open up about all the shit i was feelin and goin thru durin thesis–4rm heartbreaks 2 breakthroughs. i realized anything is possible if u believe–no funny shit. :)
The third part is visuals. The absence of my clear, explicit self in any of the visuals nods at my fear, play, and grace. Think of it as me twirling naked for the first time in front of an audience of (blank) saints.
in otha words, i’m my worst enemy.