PROPS: A Moment of Silence?

Shikeith, Still from A Moment Of Silence?, single channel experimental video, 1:00 duration, 2015. Image courtesy of the artist.

Silent video by Philadelphia-based artist speaks volumes on racism

BlackArtistNews | July 4, 2015

We hold these truths:

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress signed the United States Declaration of Independence. That document certified the birth of a nation and its intent to sever ties with the British Empire.

Unfortunately, the white male patriarchal system that dominated European culture remained embedded in America’s DNA. The men who drafted and co-signed on the belief that “all men are created equal” didn’t regard African slaves as human, let alone men.

To be self evident:

So how do Black Americans celebrate an event that has nothing to do with their independence?

Multi-disciplinary artist Shikeith’s video “A Moment of Silence?” should spark some ideas.  

On the surface, it’s a poignant tribute to the victims of Charleston, NC and the countless number of Black lives quieted through racist practices in America.

More deeply, it offers viewers sound advice for breaking the silence on prejudice and discrimination.

Shikeith uses the black male body as a symbol for the dark, damaging effects of racism. It’s not something we want to ‘look’ at but we must. It’s uncomfortable. As it should be.

But he also uses it as a point of reason: rallying viewers to strip themselves from the misbelief that we will experience greater mobility if we conceal our vulnerability inside a cloak of invisibility. When that mindset comes to an end, we will have created an independence worth celebrating.

All men are created equal, [and] endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

"A Moment of Silence?" questions Black perspectives on independence but it is also a visual testimonial that we shall overcome.

SYRACUSE: Sanford Biggers

Sanford Biggers: Shuffle & Shake

November 6 – December 27, 2014

Projected onto North Façade of Everson Museum of Art Building, Dusk – 11:00pm, Thursday – Sunday

Artist talk: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 at 6:30pm

EVERSON MUSEUM OF ART

401 Harrison Street

Syracuse, NY

From urbanvideoproject.com:

Urban Video Project (UVP) and parent organization Light Work are pleased to present the exhibition of “Shuffle”(2009) and “Shake” (2011) by celebrated multimedia artist, Sanford Biggers.  This exhibition marks the second major exhibition of “Celestial Navigation: a year into the afro future”, a year-long program of exhibitions and events at Urban Video Project and partner organizations that takes afrofuturism as its point of departure.

About the Work

“Shuffle” and “Shake” form the first two parts of Sanford Bigger’s Odyssean trilogy about the formation and dissolution of identity.

“Shuffle” is about the struggle between our own perception of self vs. others’ projections onto us. “Shuffle” also examines how we matriculate through society, often masking our insecurities, pain, longing and the internal schizophrenia of our id. Original soundtrack composed from the artist’s field recordings made in Indonesia.

“Shake”, the second video of the trilogy, features Ricardo Camillo — a Brazilian-born, Germany-based choreographer, stuntman, clown and DJ — as he walks from the favelas (or shantytowns) of Brazil, to the ocean before finally transforming into an androgynous silver-skinned figure. Though the final imagery is straight out of Afrofuturism, recalling the specific costuming and aesthetics of P-Funk, it is remains extraordinarily human at the same time, referencing the soul searching of Greek mythology.

About the Artist

An LA native working in NYC, Sanford Biggers creates artworks that integrate film, video, installation, sculpture, drawing, original music and performance. He intentionally complicates issues such as hip hop, Buddhism, politics, identity and art history in order to offer new perspectives and associations for established symbols. Through a multi-disciplinary formal process and a syncretic creative approach he makes works that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are conceptual.

The significance of Biggers’ work within contemporary society has been celebrated through solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally, most recently at the Brooklyn Museum, Sculpture Center and Mass MoCA. He has participated in prestigious residencies and fellowships including: Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany; Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland; Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California; ARCUS Project Foundation, Ibaraki, Japan; and the Art in General/ Trafo Gallery Eastern European Exchange in Budapest, Hungary. He has been a fellow of the Creative Time Global Residency, the Socrates Sculpture Park Residency, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council World Views AIR Program, the Eyebeam Atelier Teaching Residency, the Studio Museum AIR Program, the P.S. 1 International Studio Program, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture residency.

Sanford Biggers’ installations, videos, and performances have appeared in venues worldwide including Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, the Whitney Museum and Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and the Yerba Bue a Center for the Arts in San Francisco, as well as institutions in China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland and Russia. The artist’s works have been included in notable exhibitions such as: Prospect 1 New Orleans Biennial, Illuminations at the Tate Modern, Performa 07 in NY, the Whitney Biennial, and Freestyle at the Studio Museum in Harlem. His works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum and Bronx Museum.

Biggers has won awards including: the American Academy in Berlin Prize, Greenfield Prize, New York City Art Teachers Association Artist-of-the-Year, Creative Time Travel Grant, Creative Capital Project Grant, New York Percent for the Arts Commission, Art Matters Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts Award, the Lambent Fellowship in the Arts, the Pennies From Heaven/ New York Community Trust Award, Tanne Foundation Award, and Rema Hort Mann Foundation Award Grant.

Biggers is Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s Visual Arts program and a board member of Sculpture Center, Soho House and the CUE Foundation. He has also taught at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Sculpture and Expanded Media program and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s VES Department in 2009.

For more information, go to sanfordbiggers.com.

About ‘Celestial Navigation: a year into the afro future’

“Celestial Navigation”, a year-long program at UVP, will explore the work of major established and emerging artists through an afrofuturist lens, including works by Julien, Sanford Biggers, Xaviera Simmons, Jeanette Ehlers (as part of “The Black Radical Imagination 2014,” curated by Erin Christovale and Amir George), Cristina de Middel and Cauleen Smith. Artist talks, screenings and a panel discussion in spring 2014 will be included in the programming. Partner venues featuring cross-programmed exhibitions include Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) and Light Work (both in Syracuse).