EJ Hill:
Brake Run HelixEXHIBITIONFor his first solo museum show and largest exhibition to date, EJ Hill has created a massive installation that incorporates freestanding sculptures, paintings, a stage for performances, and a rideable sculptural installation inspired by the form and function of roller coasters. Hill’s practice focuses on everyday experiences that intermingle public struggle, endurance, trauma, and joy, whether within athletics, religion, the American education system, or amusement parks. In the United States, amusement parks were contested sites throughout Jim Crow-era desegregation efforts for equitable access to pleasure, leisure, and recreation. For Hill, roller coasters are public monuments to the possibility of attaining joy—which, as he notes, is “a critical component of social equity.”
In Brake Run Helix, Hill inverts the experience of riding a roller coaster, transforming it from a shared ritual of joy and terror to an individual performance: only one person may ride the roller coaster, Brava!, at a time. Visitors are encouraged to sign up to ride or can see the roller coaster activated by riders throughout the day.
ROLE
Graphic Design & Vinyl Installer
FIELDExhibition
YEAR2022
LOCATIONMASS MoCA
DELIVERABLESIdentity, Wall Text, Gallery Guide, Banner
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