No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying I’m surprised that no one else is saying it. I feel like usually you get someone saying, “I know art when I see it, and that’s not art.”
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I legit assumed it was “white people fuck” until one of the comments here said it was “fuck white people”.
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But maybe it says something about you (or the viewer, in general, so I guess I mean the royal you in this case) if you automatically go to that mindset by seeing this particular piece of art. Again, this person is making art, not political rhetoric (even if the art includes political rhetoric), so it doesn’t have to necessarily be accommodating and make us feel at ease. Maybe the point is to make the viewer angry in the first place? And maybe the art isn’t even for you or me, but for a particular audience that we’re not a part of (presumably, this is at least partial true, since they are a SA artist).
I do think, over and again, people with progressive view points are asked to put things in terms that don’t “hurt” the feelings of the “opposition.” But little or nothing is asked of those with position and privilege already.
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Ah. Thanks for clarifying. Of course, what is or isn’t art rests in the eye of the beholder.
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Sort of link in a round of music, you can get confused which part is supposed to be first.
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OK, here’s what I’ve got. Some people telling another person how they should… protest or start conversations or make art or something.
… I don’t think that they should to be doing that.
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Yeah, I kind of agree. Maybe that’s the real heart of the issue here.
But, see… I made a little joke.
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Okay. I guess I’m too dense to get it. I’ll try not to take people at their word on issues I actually care about then.
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Not sure what the term for this is, since “edgelord” is not gender-neutral.
The word you’re looking for is “trolley”.
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Dunno if it’s good art or bad art, I’m not qualified to say that.
But it is (to my mind) interesting, got a fair amount of publicity and has spawned a good chunk of discussion and reaction.
So it is, at least, successful art.
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No… I care about these issues also.
See, it’s like this.
Its me telling others that they shouldn’t do what I did when I told them that they shouldn’t do what I just did.
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I think this Dean Hutton is onto something.
I don’t automatically go there, but I just know that someone will bring that up.
I agree with you there. I’m tired of sugar coating stuff to make racists comfortable. However, edgelording is always futile. Making people think is like getting kids to eat vegetables. You can’t ever let them know they’re doing it.
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Yes, but an edgelord is a very specific type of troll
South Africa is kind of falling apart. When I visited during apartheid, it was very uncomfortable. I am White as can be, and speak some Dutch, but it was like some sort of strange alternate history. Like a book by Harry Turtledove. I went back after Mandela became President, and even attended a ANC rally where Winnie Mandela spoke. There was a lot of hope at that time, and there was just a real positive vibe everywhere. I have been back several times since, and it seems like it is rapidly turning into a dystopia. I guess this is edgy because of the artist’s whiteness, but it has less impact, or at least different impact, than it would in a place where “Kill White People” signs were more unusual.
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Actually you are! Because everyone can be an artist, every viewer can critique/have an opinion on whether they like it and/or if it is good or bad. Though I would urge one to expand beyond just saying something “sucks”.
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Maybe it can also be read in a way that’s easier to get if a comma is added: “fuck white, people.”
This art has a specific context. It also has specific precedents within that context that inform the ways it’s interpreted in that context. I don’t think people outside of Africa are talking smart when they criticize or ridicule it while knowing next to nothing about that context.
http://kaganof.com/kagablog/2016/02/26/zama-mthunzi-on-the-fuck-white-people-t-shirt-controversy/
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There are some who seem to seek concessions for oppressors. But I see what might appear superficially similar as encouraging progressives to develop some more “left-brained” models and approaches. The point is not to avoid hurting the feeling of the opposition, but knowing that sentiments and pathos are just part of the situation and not the whole thing. To offer some compelling reasons for change beyond “you mistreated people, so you should feel badly”, and I think there many such good reasons. Empathy is important but I don’t know that we can debate or legislate empathy.
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