Fri April 26th Open 11 AM–5 PM
Lukas Brekke-Miesner, Yueqi Chen,
Chris Hamamoto, and Takeshi Moro,
Breaking ICE: A Community Response to a Citizenship Test, 2017/2020
Mixed media
Courtesy the artists
Based loosely on the 100 questions United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses to test aspiring citizens, Breaking ICE replaces the high-stakes civics and history questions aimed to filter people with an open invitation to cultivate community across difference.
By replacing the test with political, personal, and philosophical prompts, visitors can explore the idea of citizenship based on a sense of belonging rather than on formal documentation.
Please follow the link to view the project on its stand-alone website. Once there, click a question that peaks your interest and submit an answer. You can answer as many questions as you like, and you can answer the same question as many different ways as your creativity allows.
Originally conceived as a way to engage physical interaction, the artists quickly reconfigured the work and created a website.
All 100 questions are available to answer online in English, Spanish, Tagalog and Traditional Chinese
Submit your answers and the artists will post them to the corresponding questions.
YBCA is grateful to the artists for their swift response to the COVID-19 pandemic and their ability to reimagine their artwork to exist in a digital space.
We encourage you to answer the questions with friends and family, and to share widely with your community. We hope the questions inspire you, and that your responses prove valuable as we imagine our collective future, together.
Breaking ICE: A Community Response to a Citizenship Test is part of Come to Your Census: Who Counts in America?, an art and civic experience intended to drive awareness and mobilize the diverse communities of the Bay Area around the urgent, long-term impact of the 2020 US Census.
More here →
YBCA Zine
From Physical to Digital: How Artists are Adapting Work Due to COVID-19 Restrictions
Come to Your Census co-curator and YBCA Associate Director of Public Life Martin Strickland interviews artists, Chris Hamamoto and Takeshi Moro