Photosensitive warning: at the thirteen–minute mark, this video contains seven seconds of flashes of light that could be triggering for people with sensitivities.
"Self Defense is a passionately–spoken, poetic, slow–moving song and dance, looking at the world through an autistic lens. This stands in juxtaposition to the most commonly–known cultural narrative of autism, which is that of Rain Man—weird and quirky. Many types of people are autistic, and there are dozens of unexplored elements of autism, areas that may be not related to math or memorizing facts but details that are more generous, emotional, or sensual. Self Defense speaks to how Joni navigates being in public, being employed, and being in relationship with family, friends, in love, and more. Through this piece, her engagement with nature, and man–made systems and structures, shed light on cultural issues of exclusion." — https://risk-reward.org
Joni Renee Whitworth is an artist and writer from rural Oregon. Sam Hamilton is a New Zealand artist based in Portland.
