Wednesday
Jun132012

Dear White People: A Film for A New Black Aesthetic

A new film is in the works that could help to re-build the possibility of a new black aesthetic in the 21st century. Described as a "satire about being a black face in a very white place," "Dear White People" promises a complex and comical depiction of blackness.

Click to read more ...

Friday
Jun082012

Destabilizing the Ritual: The Democratic Art Museum

Go is interesting because it alters the way we traditionally curate art in museums. At the moment, curation is largely an undemocratic process -- a small circle of stakeholders, investors, academics and, of course, curators determine what will be housed in a museum. The process is mired in politics and contestations over history, memory and value; yet, the process is anti-political in the sense that it does not incorporate the political system the West holds so dear: democracy. In short and in the words of art historian Carol Duncan, the museum is a ritual.

Click to read more ...

Thursday
May172012

What Extreme Conceptual Art Tells Us About Inequality and Value

LaBossiere's exploration of art as concept reveals disquieting implications. If art (not just extreme conceptual art, but all art) gains its value to some degree from the value of its creator, then one must wonder what sort of inequality exists in the valuation of art. Would, for example, a Big Al Carter piece sell for more if Big Al had not been black and unrepresented by a gallery? Or, would it sell for less? When artists become petit-celebrities of a sort, does their art increase in value? Should it, particularly if the quality (however measured) has not? And, perhaps more importantly, how do our cultural biases play into the determination of value for pieces of art labeled "tribal" or "folk" art?

Click to read more ...

Monday
May072012

Twenty-Somethings, It's Time to Buy Art

Twenty-somethings, it's time. It's time to roll up that poster of Muhammad Ali and that silk screen canvas print of the Eiffel Tower. It's time to rest something lasting on those blank white apartment walls. It's time to buy original art.

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Apr242012

The Art of Fear: Makode Linde's 'Painful Cake'

Now, imagine viewing these images (just like most of the world has this past week) without knowing the artist’s intent, without knowing the context for the event, without knowing why this mostly-white audience is laughing hysterically at this grotesque portrayal of black womanhood. If you care about humanity and racial justice, your response is probably immediate and swift. Your response is coated in fear. We know racism exists, we think we see it here, we fear we see it here. Is this the real image? Or, is this a mere representation of the real image?

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Apr222012

There's One Like You on Every Block: Wyclef's Words for Trayvon Martin

When I think about music, I think of passion. When I think about passion, I think of emotion. When I think about emotion, I think of love, hate, fear, joy, sadness, resilience, and a great many others. But most of all, I think of universality. The best songs, in my opinion, tell a story. They take us on a journey of love, of hate, of hurt, of forgiveness. They remind us that we are not alone. The specificity of a story often breeds the universality of the emotions it conjures.

Click to read more ...