These Streets Weren’t Paved for Tenderness

Xavier is an imagined planet where life never ends and only exists in the streets. Here, artists arrange fantastical reactions to their realities. As adaptations to specific temporal and spatial boundaries, these reactions will not be sensical to strangers–yet demanding their attention still. “these streets weren’t paved for tenderness” is a window into Xavier. The exhibition rummages through the languages, codes and swagger necessary to navigate the tricky, trippy, murky terrain of Xavier. At once, the exhibition asks viewers, “What if the world ended for you many times and began again in the morning?” (Word to Nayyirah Waheed). Each artist offers a peek of individual street views in Xavier, ranging from unrest to uncanny. In the end, the only end is to make sense, or rather an attempt to make sense. But to who exactly? And what’s the point of making sense if life never ends [here]. . .if life goes on.