SlowDrag
Artists: Mendi + Keith Obadike
Category: Mobile Sound Installation
Location: Ridge Avenue
Date & Time: 3:00-5:00PM
SlowDrag is a unique public art project created by artists Mendi and Keith Obadike. It is a mobile community-powered sound installation that takes the form of a procession of cars playing synchronized, original music through high-end sound systems. Departing from the Dell Music Center, the cars will proceed on a predetermined route looping up and down Ridge Avenue over the course of one hour. Route map and viewing locations to be released soon.
The music is a result of engaging local Philadelphia-based music producers to remix an original song by Mendi + Keith Obadike. The remixes are played one after another out of each car in the entire SlowDrag procession as they make their way through North Philadelphia.
Cultural Workers
Mendi + Keith Obadike
Mendi + Keith Obadike are artists, composers, and writers whose work merges sound, language, and technology to explore questions about identity, place, and power while engaging themes of memory, dreams, and spiritual connection. From internet works like Blackness for Sale (2001) to public installations like GuideStar (2025) and Blues Speaker (2015), they create participatory experiences that foster civic sites for listening and reflection. Their work has been presented at The New Museum, The Met, the Whitney, and the Studio Museum. They are Cornell professors and serve on boards of Rhizome and the Vera List Center for Art & Politics.