People For An Accessible Mars

TALK BACK Workshop
Saturday, May 25 3-5pm

RSVP (Not Required but Requested)

People for an Accessible Mars (PAM) People for an Accessible Mars (PAM) is a non-profit that seeks to instrumentalize the expertise of the disability community and collect data on accessible space travel and terraform methods. Through a series of workshops, surveys, and focus groups; we intend to advise NASA and all mars exploration initiatives on how to build an accessible future. The intention is to build access into the architecture of everything we do. To be intentional about building an inclusive society, rather than retrofitting access at a later date.

People for an Accessible Mars (PAM) is facilitated by Madison Zalopany and Alex Zak.

Madison Zalopany is an artist and disability activist. She currently lives in New York, NY and works as the Coordinator to Access and Community Programs at the Whitney Museum. She received her BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2011. Currently she is participating in the 2018-2019 Art and Disability Residency.

Alex Zak’s upbringing in Florida instilled him with a familiarity to specific modes of labor, consumption, and their relationship to leisure economies. Through sculpture, installation, performance, and video, Zak’s work explores ways in which the histories of objects or spaces become obfuscated by the systems and aesthetics of tourism. His recent works deploy methods of flattening and material manipulations, creating surfaces that mimic their respective origins. By assigning alternate functions, values, and position to recognizable cultural signifiers, Zak hopes to agitate the mechanics of social architectures and technologies. Zak is currently a MFA candidate in sculpture at Yale School of Art.

People for an Accessible Mars workshop is presented as part of TALK BACK, an exhibition that centers the lives and leadership of disabled artists and organizers.

TALK BACK is curated by Lexy Ho-Tai and moira williams.

Accessibility:
Flux Factory gallery and ground floor, gender-neutral bathroom is ADA Accessible. No ID or fee necessary for entry. Free tap water is available as are chairs with backs.

The closest subway stations with street level elevators is Queens Plaza (E, M, R trains), and 21st Street Queensbridge (F Train). MTA Elevator and Escalator Status. TALK BACK will include audio guides and large-print and braille versions of written work. There is a quiet space within the gallery with low-level lighting, earplugs, chairs, cushions, eye masks, and reading material. Service animals are welcome. Please arrive fragrance free and with quiet phones. Thank you!

Please feel free to contact curators Lexy Ho-Tai or moira williams at access@fluxfactory.org about access needs and questions. If you require ASL interpretation or real-time captioning, please reach out by May 18, 2019, if possible. Thank you!

TALK BACK is made possible through in-kind support from Materials for the Arts, Disability/Arts/NY a generous donation from Joe Cardillo, and supported by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Create NYC Disability Forward Fund Enjoy Life