an artist whose work asks and speaks:
wayne dunkley - click third link
In his piece "The Degradation and Removal of the/a Black Male", Wayne Dunkley brings up issues of how black men are seen in Canadian society. When and how they are acknowledged and when and how they are ignored. Over the span of four years, Dunkley posted 400 photocopies of his face all over the cities of Quebec, Ontario, and Toronto "to provoke thought on the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which the black male is acknowledged or ignored." The images have undergone many transformations from being torn down, written on, defaced, and covered over.
To me, it is interesting the places that black people belong in history but have been replaced or showed in a altered way. For example, many famous people of at least some African decent have been lightened up, or the fact that they are black is shoved to the darkness. Egyptians are not always as light as they are depicted. Just like black people in the U.S.A. vary in complexion, the people from Egypt are not all just light-skinned. To some this might seem like a minor thing, but if all images of women showed only those with red hair and a small waste, women would become upset because it suggests that only red hair and a small waste are desirable or accepted. Beethoven was at least part moor, though history has tried to cover up his dark complexion and his kinky hair. [Alexander Thayer, Life of Beethoven, vol.1, p. 134; Maynard Solomon, Beethoven, p. 78]
an artist whose work speaks and asks:
Gwen Meherg creates work as an act of worship and many times as a means of recording prophecy. It is fundamentally spiritual in nature and hides nothing of this. In a society where Christian subjects, especially dealing with the Holy Spirit are relatively rare, it is remarkable to find an artist who addresses these things openly and regularly in her work. Her work is profound to me more in that fact that it is expressive in the face of a large movement to silence the Christian voice in the name of promoting the "freedom of religion."
I feel the need to clarify my stance. I am a Christian, but not what the media promotes as Christian. Religion and Christianity are not necessarily the same thing. I do not follow a set of rituals nor do I go to church as if it is a social event. I have seen and been a part of God healing people. I have prayed for direction and been given guidance and the means to go where I have needed to go. I have made mistakes and received correction from them. Many of the things that deal with Christians that are not condemning others [Bible thumpers] or with Christians that are not religious [following principles rather than taking the journey one day at a time as God leads them] are not seen or heard about in mainstream society. This is an act of stifling similar to the one we saw done with the Muslims in the Middle East after September 11, 2001. Not everything is at is appears. The image of peaceful Muslims was withheld from us just as the image of a faithful, yet down-to-earth Christian is withheld.
This is a wonderful way of conceptualizing communication Rachel. Thinking about our freedom to be silent is something I have not considered before directly; we hear a lot about the need to be free to speak and release our voices, but to think about the value of silence... i wonder about the practice of silence as a political act. Do you think that if we choose to be silent we might in some ways be subverting power structures that choose not to listen?Are we sidestepping a responsibility to engage in discourse? Can we engage through silence? Interesting...
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