Cornelia
Seymour H. Knox Building

Chorus of the Deep is a monumental glass tile mosaic that invites viewers to immerse themselves in an oceanic world. Up close, the image seems to be an abstract symphony of color and light. From a distance, abstraction comes into focus to reveal swimming bodies and sea flora. This visually dynamic experience is deliberate. The glossy and variously textured tiles, or tesserae, invite the viewer to inspect the work from different perspectives. Against the work’s shifting field, viewers must find their place visually and also historically.

Báez’s work is inspired by the Afro-futurist myth of Drexciya, an underwater, Afrodiasporic civilization, conceived by the Detroit-based techno music duo James Stinson and Gerald Donald, also known as Drexciya. This aquatic world is populated by “Drexciyans,” a society of water-breathing beings born to the pregnant women thrown overboard during the Middle Passage  of the international slave trade. For many descendants of the enslaved, the ocean carries a heavy weight as the site of millions of unmarked graves. Here it is reimagined as a utopian seascape. Drexciyan society, as visualized by Báez and as heard in Drexciya’s music, is joyful, radiant, and full of creative energy. The otherworldly quality of Chorus of the Deep draws us into a place that challenges and expands the way we look at history, offering bright and interconnected alternatives.

Báez reveals how visual experience relies on conditions like lighting and scale. “Scale,” she says, “is about intimacy and the breaking down of preconceptions by relating directly to the body. I always say that just because some of the content of an artwork might be opaque, a constant for everyone is their own physical presence, or standing, in relation to something else."[1]

This project was organized by Andrea Alvarez, Associate Curator.

Chorus of the Deep is a long-term installation. This page marks a year-long celebration highlighting newly commissioned works for the 2023 opening of the Buffalo AKG.