DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT OVERLOAD!
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The message is simple: “White people fuck”. Which seems kinda obvious and, I’m no expert here, but I think applies to all people.
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It’s hard sometimes to separate attention seeking from art with these sort of works. My rule of thumb is to see how much of the message brings focus to the artist and how much focus is on the societal impact the work intends. Here I think the artist takes the front seat giving this work a certain odor.
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HI. I guess I didn’t check back into this thread over the weekend, and it seems to be going so here is another comment.
I have to admit, shit like this kinda turns me off. While I am in the school that believes both in hierarchy of art (that’s just me being an elitist snob because I had enough credits to major in painting and design) I also think anything can be art - even if it isn’t “good” art. So stuff like this seems a bit gratuidous and lazy. Sort of the click bait of art.
But at the same time, I did do some reflection on it, which for stuff like this is an important part of critiquing, especially if it evokes an emotional response. WHY didn’t I like it, why did it turn me off? Well, of course I felt a bit targeted for no reason. Yes yes, Europeans and “white” people have done some pretty bad things through history (though no culture is immune from that). But hell, “I” haven’t done anything like that. None of my ancestors that I know of owned slaves, knowing half my bloodline weren’t in the US until the late 1880s. I even have Native American blood. None of my friends have done anything to warrant that blanket statement.
So stepping back, I can see that my natural response for something like that is hurt and dislike. Now since this is an art piece, not just some graffiti on the wall, I extrapolated this to - what if it was graffiti on a wall, only it says “fuck black people” or “fuck Mexicans” or “fuck gays” or “fuck Muslims”. I imagine those blacks, Mexicans, gays, Muslims and anyone else targeted by slurs would have a similar reaction. “WTF have I done? Sure there are blacks/Mexicans/gays/Muslims who have done bad things, but not me. Not anyone I know has done anything to warrant this blanket statement. WTF?”
So, with that, my opinion on the piece has changed. If one can take 5 min to reflect on why one doesn’t like this, I think it does a fair job to show that 1) we are all basically the same and 2) we shouldn’t be down on people we don’t know simply because they belong to a group you don’t like for some reason. In fact on further reflection and some exposure, one might find people in those groups are mostly just like you.
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Bingotown.
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What if the role of the artist is integral to the work’s societal impact? Surely it matters here, for instance, that Sutton is white.
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I get your point, and see it as a valid one, with one exception: Armchair quarterbacks telling me how war should be conducted have no helpful information to impart. But a member if the local population, living among the hostile forces, or an ex-member of those forces might have great insight into the effectiveness of my tactics.
In this case, I am a White Heterosexual, so I might be part of the target audience of this performance art. Or perhaps not. Since it was worn at a SA Pride parade, it could be a statement intended for that specific audience. But we are now having a global conversation about it. Which some here have mentioned, could be the real point.
And as a final note, I hope I was not giving an impression that I am making judgements on the artist about who they are or what their experiences or struggles might be. I was trying to confine my statements to my personal opinion of whether the statement “F**K White People” is likely to make SA, or the world, a better or worse place. It may be that the artist is not concerned with that issue at all.
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Seeing as they were wearing it during Pride, the subsection of persons they were trying to reach was a bit more specific than trying to reach you or your parents.
Racism remains a serious issue in queer and feminist communities and I am certain that it ruffles the feathers of some less conscious of intersectionalism and self-professed allies as well.
And yes, pride outfits involve their own political protest, necessarily more inciteful than streetwear.
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The problem is your previous statements did claim that your personal experiences were universally applicable. You ignore the hostory of violence and harassment against LGBT people and suggest that the sole reason anything has changed is because they’ve been “decent”.
Expecting people to passively accept such treatment and assuming doing so will make everything better is not only extremely naive but has no regard for historical facts.
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Seems to me their are fewer white people than the rest of us put together. Sounds like providence to me.
The one in Rhode Island?
Where the old world shadows hang
Heavy in the air?
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No, like the telling-of-the-future, reading the writing on the wall, smelling the winds of change, ect, ect.
I say we take all the white people and give them their own island, (Didn’t white people come from an island?) so they can discriminate amongst themselves. (Fair warning, freckled people) lol @ “fair warning” lol! I kill me.
Interesting, considering most of these comments are about the medium as well as message, and precious little about the artist, who, while being white is also genderqueer, meaning that they are actually risking their saftey to bring us this conversation. Cheers, crazy artist person! It worked! Were actually talking about race, and not your super awesome self! Mostly. Lol
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I tend not to use BB comments or an aggregate of other people’s thoughts or indeed even the artists explanation of a work to form my opinions on art. I’m more concerned how the artist themselves, if the artist even attempts to provide a contextual frame for it, represent the work when trying to differentiate between attention seeking (even for a good cause) and art.
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Personally, I do it exactly that way. With considerable success. But I would never claim it was a tactic for all battles, or all battlefields.
Conceivably this suit could initiate conversations that would turn in to meaningful discussions about what is offensive - South African racism, or racist clothing, or certain Anglo-saxon words, &etc. - that could end up being a polite and enlightening interchange. It’s possible. It would depend on how the artist interacts with the viewers of the art.
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