STUDIO ASSIGNMENT #1 – CORE SEMINAR 2: FORM & INNOVATION

I wanted to create a series of posters inspired by The Fact of Blackness by Frantz Fanon. The reading specifically resonated with me, because I have felt these feelings for the entirety of my life and know a lot of my colleagues have as well. Attending a school in a town populated by a majority of white, upperclass families from 5-18 years old, I was always faced with racism. My first encounter happened in first grade. Imagine being that young and having someone tell you that they “don’t like black people.” Confused, I brushed it off slightly, making note to bring it up to my mother later and figure out exactly what that means. Fast forward 13 years, those same kids I grew up with are in their senior years of high school unable to comprehend why they can’t say the n-word.

I created two images, one hand drawn and one computer generated. One is a copy of the other; literal duplicates, just distorted and bent in a way that makes the text unreadable. The image is also distorted, creating an interesting sight for the viewer that I wanted to either inspire or frighten. The colors contrast strongly and are bold and dark. I specifically found inspiration in the following quotes:

“”Look, a Negro!” It was true. It amused me.”

“I existed triply: I occupied space. I moved toward the other . . . and the evanescent other, hostile but not opaque, transparent, not there, disappeared. Nausea . . . ” (84)

As I grow older, I feel more and more like the first quote. Amused. Not in an entertained way, but in a cynical one. I know myself and I find the ignorance amusing now, because I cannot believe that people are so content in their stupidity. Fanon later discusses the stereotypes associated with black people–big lips, big teeth, big feet, etc. I’ve been made fun of for these things as well, proving that gender does not play a defining factor in ignorance.

The piece is representative of the fact that an image can be misconstrued, there are different ways to dissect and perceive it. Personally, some of the stereotypes of black people are what make them beautiful in my eyes. To another person, they are what make them the opposite. I wanted to distort the image in a way that made it almost barely legible; like as if the distorted image was presented alone, one would not be able to tell what it was of.