Fluid Master: The Zen of Auto Mechanics
with Kenya (Robinson)
Date: October 1, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Course Fee: FREE
Course Location: Duke Center for Documentary Studies (Parking Lot), 1317 W Pettigrew Street, Durham, NC 27705
Join artist Kenya (Robinson) for a free public event exploring the surprising connections between documentary filmmaking and auto mechanics through a live, embodied performance.
In filmmaking, a "fluid master" is an entire scene captured in one continuous shot while the camera remains in motion. For this event, Kenya will perform two live oil changes as continuous fluid master shots, inviting participants to consider how routine automotive maintenance can be transformed through the language of filmmaking. As she works, Kenya will engage attendees in a conversation about her life and practice as a Black woman, fine artist, and mechanic.
Come view the action from multiple camera angles, including a live GoPro feed, while taking part in an artist talk that explores labor, performance, observation, and the stories embedded in everyday systems.
The event will take place in the Center for Documentary Studies parking lot and includes refreshments and beverages. Space is limited to 25 - 30 people.
Disclaimer: The promotional image is from TURBO TAROT, Kenya's new artist-directed project that uses generative AI as one component of an iterative visualization and production process. Kenya developed the project's conceptual framework, automotive-to-tarot correspondences, visual system, imagery, and individual card concepts, using AI tools as one component of the artistic process.
Kenya (Robinson) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice examines the intersections of race, gender, economics, and imagination through performance, sculpture, writing, and social engagement. Her research-based projects—such as CHEEKY LaSHAE, TOONSKIN, and $OUDIO—investigate how systems of privilege and cultural narratives shape perception and participation in the public sphere. (Robinson)’s work often utilizes humor, linguistic play, and collective ritual as strategies for reconfiguring power and belonging. By merging scholarly inquiry with community-based methodologies, she positions art as a dynamic framework for both critique and transformation. Exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Orlando Museum of Art, her work contributes to ongoing conversations surrounding Black feminist thought, material culture, and the politics of representation. Through these intersecting approaches, (Robinson) advances an expansive vision of art as a social and conceptual tool for reimagining equity, participation, and creative agency.