Jess Smoot
I am a professional mischief maker who uses tactics from my background as a trained clown to examine social power structures. Through playful and inquisitive performances, I ask viewers to question current circumstances and imagine new ways to relate to each other that aren’t hierarchical and oppressive in nature. Drawing directly from the lineage of the clown as a court jester, I believe the best way to destabilize authoritarian figures is by removing them from their pedestals, allowing us to magnify their flaws while also examining our own and coming to terms with the full complexity of human individuals within the harmful systems we’ve created.
In recent years, I’ve also been using archival material as fodder for my work. When I use historical material, I remove it from its context and examine it within the contexts of today. My work puts the archive on display, and while it often acknowledges the historical narrative, it does not prioritize it. I seek to use it as a way to collaborate with people who we no longer have access to physically so that we can better understand the circumstances we presently find ourselves in.
Portrait by Tia Mitchell
Stories from Jess Smoot
Jess Smoot & Cesar Chavez Elementary School
Project Overview
What would the classroom look like if students were given agency over their education? During my residency, I will be working with a group of students to create a collaborative performance piece exploring pedagogy, learning, and oppressive hierarchies in education. The process will engage my collaborators and their viewpoints with developmentally appropriate versions of radical pedagogy theories (especially those of bell hooks and Paolo Freire) and will attempt to embody what a student led, radical classroom could look like- all while embracing silliness, whimsy, and vulnerability. By the end of the residency, we will have a performance piece about what a reimagined classroom could look like that will be performed by student collaborators for their school community, with the possibility of a script that can be performed by adult collaborators in a professional art setting.
Jess Smoot & Cesar Chavez Multicultural Academic Center
Project Overview
How would you change the way your school day went, and what would you learn? CPS Lives Artist in Residence Jess Smoot worked with student collaborators to create an original performance piece to answer these questions- and more!
“Over the course of the school year, we’ll move, write, and play until we make a performance to share with the whole school, and with the whole city of Chicago. If you like dancing, singing, acting, or just are excited to share your story, you might enjoy trying your hand at performance art!”
