Andrew Nemr

Project

What We Leave Behind

"What We Leave Behind" is a video series by tap dancer Andrew Nemr, the first of which you see above. Andrew wrote accompanying essays throughout the process of creating the videos. Read the first essay, "Coming to Choice", below.

Artist
Andrew Nemr

"quote from Liberty goes here"

Arneshia Williams
about"Into the Deep, Unto the New" is an exhibition that navigates the continuum of collective healing from racial trauma.
Hosted by Inbreak and Dea Studios is the culminating exhibition of the 2021 Inbreak Residency. This exhibition is a virtual showcase featuring works by Inbreak residents Andrew Nemr, Steve Anthony Johnson, Liberty Worth, and Arneshia Williams. Into the Deep, Unto the New provides a lens through which we see the impassioned overflow from art as practice to art as community-building in an effort to bravely uncover racialized trauma and to reimagine a post-racialized society. The reception will feature a brief introduction to the exhibition, interactive activities, and a toast to the artists.
The Inbreak Residency is an incubator for artists of any discipline, writers, curators and preachers to foster a brave space that facilitates a raw exploration of art, faith, and race in the United States. Over the course of three months, residents engage in texts, open dialogue, and somatic practice to metabolize themes surrounding racial trauma in the U.S. Each resident is encouraged to reimagine their individual role in generating social healing through self-led community projects using their practice and tools provided by the residency.
artists The work of Marcus is immediately identifiable in it’s ability to tell a narrative that is at once evocative, gripping, and uncommonly romantic.
2018
Grand Prize Lux → Consumed
Grand Prize Lux → Terroir
Lux → Travel Design Awards

2017
Applied Arts → Make-Up
Applied Arts → Interior design
Lux → Interior design

2016
Grand Prize Lux → Agnus Dei
Lux → Food Carving
Applied Arts → Food Carving
Lux → Pur Vodka
Lux → Formes et Réflexions
Applied Arts → Shapes
Lux → Le Beurre allume vos aliments
Lux → Les fromages d’ici
Applied Arts → Les fromages d’ici

Events

  • Some Studio Name
    — Designer, Head of Design
    2019—Present
  • Some Studio Name
    — Partner, Lead Designer, Art Director
    2015—2019
  • Freelance
    — Graphic Designer, Web Designer
    2012—2015
  • Some Studio Name
    — Designer, Co-founder
    2012—2015
about"
Residency Year: 2021

My practice as an artist often begins with a question. When thinking about what a post-racial world could look like, another question came to mind: “How did the world we’re in develop into  what it is now in the first place?” Essentially, I wanted to find out how to think about how we  got to where we are, before thinking about how to get anywhere else.

In tap dancing, the smallest unit of creation is an individual choice, by an individual dancer.  When dealing with a group, the combined choices by all the dancers create the piece the  audience ultimately sees. In improvisational performances with one or more dancers, their choices are not planned out and memorized ahead of time. The choices are, however,  somewhat predetermined. The dancer’s past training, individual preferences, and ultimately  their character fuel the choices they make in the moment. They can almost trust one another to  make certain choices because of the kind of dancer they are. Audiences can often begin to see  patterns in the performances of improvisational artists of all types. These patterns are the deep  grooves made by training, preference, and habit, that are solidified in character, plus or minus  some variation.

There is a relationship between choice and impact that is key when thinking about what we  leave behind. Looking at our impact is one way to learn about good or bad choices. However,  impact is ephemeral, and often simply hidden from us. Further, when set incorrectly, the  relationship between choice and impact can lead to manipulation and control flourish. Still,  when set in the correct frame, it can lead to character transformation. Unpacking the processes  of choice making, the uncovering of impact, and the relationship between the two is the heart  of this project – Believing that if we change what we leave behind, then and only then, can the  world change..
Project "
Andrew's practice often begins with a question. The question that drove his project for the Inbreak Residency was, “How did the world we’re in develop into what it is now in the first place?” He wanted to find out how to think about how we  got to where we are, before thinking about how to get anywhere else.

His project, What We Leave Behind, is a showcase of six improvisational tap performances that tracks the smallest unit of creation--individual choice, by an individual dancer. When dealing with a group, the combined choices by all the dancers create the piece the  audience ultimately sees. In improvisational performances with one or more dancers, their choices are not planned out and memorized ahead of time. The dancer’s past training, individual preferences, and ultimately  their character fuel the choices they make in the moment. They can almost trust one another to  make certain choices because of the kind of dancer they are.

In this work, Andrew navigates the relationship between choice and impact that is key when thinking about what we leave behind. Unpacking the processes  of choice making, the uncovering of impact, and the relationship between the two is the heart  of this project – believing that if we change what we leave behind, then and only then, can the  world change.
More from "into the Deep, Unto the New"
  1. Steven Johnson

    Left On Read

  2. Andrew Nerm

    What We Leave Behind