Sidesteps

Explores subtle modes of refusal through the lens of a Black queer swimmer in a hostile environment.

Ink drawings, animations and prints, fragments of audio from interviews, reflections on spirituality, belief

Reanimated compilation of broadcast examples of the 'Magical Mystical Negro' and 'Superhuman Black Athlete' tropes. The African American community is too often portrayed in broadcast and print media as superhuman thereby defining African Americans as less than human and as an 'other'. These tropes are not far from the 'Uncle Tom trope (comic relief character whose role is to amuse the audience by showing the traits that characterize the racist stereotype of black people)' .

In this profound meditation on Black aquatic experiences, Barfod weaves experimental animation with intimate conversations with Black swimmers from Glasgow and London.