Focacciatown

yale green gallery, new haven, ct

2017
60 minutes

Focacciatown takes place in a future in which the United States is no longer a country but a collection of monarchical nation-states organized by food and beverage brands. At this fast-casual-bakery-chain-cum-military-base, nestled in the grain fields of midwest North America, the days of steel and glass architecture have long since passed, and people have reverted back to concrete fortresses, dungeons, and medieval structures of social power. Yet telecommunications and advanced strategies for consumer marketing still exist. This is a regressive future of tyranny and brand omnipotence – a Mediaocracy – a time in which a black man would be shot for carrying a bag of potato chips.

Focacciatown revolves around a nuclear family: Arial Black, mother, is chief of marketing and media operations, her husband Antoine Anton Antwon Jenkins is a military general, and their daughter Brioche (Bree-AH-shee) is a social media starlet. When Antoine shoots a mysterious visitor for bringing a bag of chips to their party, Brioche discovers a family secret and must bring the stranger back to life.