Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and artist Raven Chacon (2012 Creative Capital Awardee) connects Diné worldviews with Western classical, avant-garde and noise music traditions in his sonic-centered practice to address Indigenous identity and sovereignty. For New Work: Raven Chacon, the artist will debut a five-channel silent film with drawings and an ambient soundtrack of spaghetti western instrumentals and drone noises. Chacon juxtaposes Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles (1950) with video footage drawn from the Prelinger Archives film collection to compose a speculative depiction of travelers visiting Southwest tribal lands. Presented during the same year as the US Semiquincentennial, this timely commission considers the Doctrine of Discovery as an ongoing, default principle leading to generational expansion of territories, both terrestrial and beyond.

Since 1987, SFMOMA’s New Work series has provided a platform for artists to experiment with a new idea or body of work. The series focuses on the innovative visions of living artists and has played a key role in shaping the breadth and character of the museum’s collection and programming.