Seung-Min Lee at the Kitchen

SEUNG-MIN LEE: Intolerable Whiteness performance at the KITCHEN on July 23, 2018

Seung-Min Lee (MFA Alumna, 2012) presents her performance Intolerable Whiteness as part of The Racial Imaginary Institute: On Whiteness at the Kitchen in New York.

Seung-Min Lee’s performance Intolerable Whiteness takes on the conflicted symbolic power of milk: As the once–booming dairy industry in New York state suffers with the steady decline of milk consumption, a new generation of Neo-Nazis takes pride in lactose tolerance, instrumentalizing the optical purity of milk as a emblem of white supremacy.

Since their creation in 2017, The Racial Imaginary Institute has focused on whiteness as a starting point, noting, “Whiteness as a source of unquestioned power, and as a ‘bloc,’ feels itself to be endangered even as it retains its hold on power.” Through a group exhibition, performances, residencies and a symposium, On Whiteness aims to create a collaborative space to question, mark, and check whiteness, challenging its dominance as it operates through default positions in cultural behavior.