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damali ayo facts for kids
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damali ayo
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Ayo at Greenlight Books in Brooklyn, 2010
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| Born | Damali Ayo Patterson February 26, 1972 Washington, D.C. |
| Occupation | Conceptual Artist, Author, Speaker |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1999 – 2017 |
damali ayo (born February 26, 1972) is an American conceptual artist, performance artist, and author. She created special art pieces from 1997 to 2017. Her background includes African-American, English, Italian, and Native American heritage. She prefers her name to be written in lower case letters. Her art used many different ways to express ideas. These included putting things together, making collages, and creating installations. She also used audio, video, photography, writing, speaking, and live performances.
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About damali ayo
damali ayo was born Damali Ayo Patterson on February 26, 1972. She grew up in Washington, D.C., and went to Sidwell Friends School from kindergarten through high school. In 1995, she legally changed her name by dropping her last name.
Ayo went to Brown University and graduated in 1990. She studied Public Policy and American Civilization. In 1997, Ayo moved to Portland, Oregon. She became a successful artist by teaching herself. Later, she was invited to study at Portland State University. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in studio art in 2006.
Her Art and Performances
damali ayo creates art that makes people think. This style is called conceptual art. Her work often involved the audience. She used many different types of media. These included collages, photos, and art installations. She also used sound, video, writing, and live performances. Ayo's art explored many topics. These ranged from love and politics to song lyrics.
Famous Art Projects
Her 2003 online art project, rent-a-negro.com, was very important. It helped create a new type of art using the internet and performance. The website got over 400,000 visits each day in its first month. It also got attention from media all over the world. This project was a funny, but serious, website. It used humor to make people think about racism. It showed how black and white people interact. The site used a pretend idea that you could "rent" a black person. This was to make people think about social issues. The website stayed online until 2012.
Her 2000 show, The Little Black Dress Project, explored women's lives. It looked at how women's real lives compare to fashion rules. The show also had a performance called Take it Off.
American/Girl was a stage performance after the 9/11 events. It explored feelings about being patriotic and belonging. She performed it in several cities. These included Portland, Boulder, and Syracuse. It was also shown at a festival in Canada in 2004.
Her project Flesh Tone #1: Skinned was a team effort. She visited paint stores and asked them to mix paint. The goal was to match different parts of her body. This project won an award in 2002. A radio piece about her talks with the paint mixers was also made. It was played on Public Radio International's Studio 360 in 2003.
In 2007, Ayo created a guide called You Can Fix Racism. She asked people for their best ideas to improve race relations. She then created a lecture-performance. This helped share these ideas with communities across the country.
Her street performance from 2004-2010 was called Living Flag: Panhandling for Reparations. She collected money from white people passing by. Then, she gave that money to black people passing by. She did this in cities like Portland, Chicago, and New York. In 2006, ayo made an online kit. Anyone could download it and do the performance in their own town. Hundreds of people took part across the country.
Working in Theatre
Ayo was one of four people who started defunkt theatre in Portland, Oregon, in 2000. She helped lead the theatre. She was also the main set designer. She won awards for her designs for plays like The Woods. She also helped direct three plays. She acted in one play called Phaedra's Love.
Writing Books
Ayo wrote two funny books that looked at social issues. How to Rent a Negro was a satirical guide. It was about race relations in the United States. This book won an award in 2005. Her second book, Obamistan! Land without Racism: Your Guide to the New America, explores a world without racism. It imagines how ending racism would change everything in the United States. This includes things like pollution and how we talk about food.
Books by damali ayo
- Obamistan! Land without Racism: Your Guide to the New America (2010, Lawrence Hill Books)
- How to Rent a Negro (2005, Lawrence Hill Books)
- How to Be Black by Bartunde Thurston (member of the “Black Panel”) (2012)
- Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound by John Biewen (contributor) (2010)
- Tipping the Sacred Cow: The Best of LiP: Informed Revolt, 1996-2007 by Brian Awehali (contributor) (2007)
- Found II: More of the Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World by Davy Rothbart (interviewed) (2006)
- The Sage Woman Cookbook (contributor) (1998)
Radio Stories
Ayo's stories for public radio explored many topics. These included how art is made and social issues. She also talked about environmental awareness and her own identity. Her stories were played on Public Radio International's Studio 360 and NPR shows. She also wrote an essay for the "This I Believe" series in 2008. Her story "Living Flag" won an award in 2005.
Radio Shows and Topics
- Becoming Multiracial NPR's State of the Re:Union (2014)
- Celebrate Obama but Acknowledge Us Too NPR's Tell Me More (2009)
- This I Believe: The Potential for a New Life This I Believe Series, aired on NPR's Tell Me More (2008)
- Living Flag Public Radio International's Studio 360 (2004)
- Beethoven's Fifth Public Radio International's Studio 360 (2004)
- The Paint Mixers Public Radio International's Studio 360 (2003)
- Me and the Golliwog Public Radio International's Studio 360 (2003)
- Trashed Public Radio International's Studio 360 (2003)
Eco-Friendly Fashion
In 2008, damali ayo started CROW Clothing. This was an eco-friendly clothing company. It also shared information about health and social justice. CROW was unique because it let customers choose the price they would pay for clothes. The company closed in November 2008 due to money problems.
Sharing Her Ideas
As part of her art, ayo gave talks and workshops. She spoke about how art is made and the social issues she explored. She shared her experiences as an artist who focused on race and racism. Her talks helped people understand her art and books. She also taught workshops on how to create conceptual art. She worked with people of all ages. In 2016, ayo finished her speaking work. She then removed her related website.