A grand panorama of race and civil unrest in Americas past and presentCarrie Mae Weems has often confronted the uncomfortable truths of racism and race relations over the course of her nearly 40year career. In The Shape of Things she focuses her unflinching gaze at what she describes as the circuslike quality of contemporary American political life. For this new work Weems created a sevenpart film projected onto a Cycloramaa panoramicstyle cylindrical screen that dates to the 19th centurywhere she addresses the turmoil of current events in the United States and the long march forward.Drawing on news and TV footage from the civil rights era to today elements of previous films such as The Madding Crowd 2017 and new film projects that bring us into our tumultuous present the films in The Shape of Things combine documentary directness with poetic rhythm to create an enveloping experience.