Artist Oxossi Ayofemi and Physicist Risa Wechsler in Conversation

For the current exhibition In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art, artist Oxossi Ayofemi collaborated with Stanford physicist Risa Wechsler to explore the concept of dark matter and dark energy in physics. The resulting exhibition entitled Black Matter foregrounds forms of power and energy that are often unrecognized and unseen but circulate in a state of transformation. Ayofemi's research for the exhibition has also included Black Power, deserts, cities, waterfalls, and break dancing as sources and models of continuous energy.

Ayofemi and Wechsler discuss their project, alongside metaphors of power, presence, absence, economy, and abundance in African American pop culture, sound, and movement. The talk will be followed by a live performance.

In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art draws inspiration from the traditional Jewish learning method of studying the Talmud in pairs, havruta. The ongoing exhibition series brings individual Bay Area artists together with a scholar, scientist, writer, or other professional of his or her choice for a ten-week fellowship in creativity.

Oxossi Ayofemi is an artist inspired by everyday utopian forms. Her works of art are experiences that mingle the senses and cross material with the immaterial.

Risa Wechsler is an Associate Professor of Physics at Stanford and at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where she has been a faculty member and a member of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology since 2006.