I still remember the scene when I came to United States for the first time. I was walking form Seventh Avenue to Lexington in the early morning to take a conference, and as any new comers, curiously running my eyes over the street. But the scene I saw is with no difference with any other modern cities: countless skyscrapers and crowd people. The only sign that make me feel it is United States is the flag hanging from building after building, and street by street. Actually, flag is everywhere in U.S., it is in people bags, credit cards, T-shirts, cars, ect. It surprised me a lot, because we never hang national flag ubiquitously as American do, the flag only appeared in Tiananmen, government organization, elementary school and middle schools as supreme reverence. Why the flag is used so broad in this country? What is the symbolic power behind it?
John Sims’ Confederate Flag project helps me understand and also changed my understanding in flags. The way he redesigns and hangs flags, people’s reaction to them, and the tension it cause between history and present, white and black people, all these things reveal me the complex problems related to the flags. No mater the sentiment related to the flag is derived from individual memory or collective memories. The strong reaction to John’s work at least, has demonstrated the power of visual image. His works are always controversial. In 2007, John’s “The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag” ―a Confederate flag hung from a noose on a 13-foot gallows― exhibited at Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science, the work was called to remove by the Sons of Confederate Veterans for it was deemed disrespectful of the Confederate flag. Technically, the commander of the group cited existing Florida statutes that prohibit using the Confederate flag in any kind of abusive way. Personally, he described Sims as a gimmick artist and a purveyor of "hate speech" supported by the museum. Even before Sims' one-man show "Recoloration Proclamation: The Gettysburg Redress" opened in September 2004, there were protests and death threats. The Gettysburg College president ended upwith a bodyguard after the Ku Klux Klan sent an ugly e-mail. The FBI stepped in. However, it is true that art is about awareness; it is the severely antipathy and discomfort brought by the art work that shows the possibility to bring people of opposing sides together. On the other hand, John’s redesign and "recoloration." bravely responses to visual discrimination, challenges history and subverts the historical flag. As he said in the class: “ When people come to see my show, they don’t have to buy anything and they’ve been touched. They are like, ‘Okay, I’ll never look at the Confederate flag again the same way,”
John described his work as about visual terrorism, respect, and social self-esteem. It is also about race, religion, and collaborate branding. But I think just because his mathematic background, he is doing art as preciseness as scientists. The work is like a scientific research based on a visual context, it initiates a difficult discourse of psychological complexities of symbol racial tension. The public reaction to this symbolic history is dramatic, the uncontrolled human emotion cased by the visual image is also a significant part of the work. It directly and unequivocally deals with a symbol that represents the very heart of one of the disreputable part of American history. I admire his courage to address the problem and face it directly, but on the other hand, I am personally ambivalent about the some pieces of his work which designed as lynching instrument and exhibited in a public place. I felt the painful he caused in some audience’s heart is too harsh. As an artistic object, it may be more effective than others to raise attention and reflection, but to be exhibited in a public space, should artists responsible for public’s mental limitation? If address awareness always comes first, and if human feeling should always give place to the supreme artistic freedom, is the 911 attack really becomes the “greatest art”? The nation’s amendment rights give artists the privilege to express themselves in all manners, art has served as a cultural reflection of the times, and in which, different perspectives can be discussed, this is unquestionable. But I wander, where is an artists’ moral limitation?
Another thing I realized in John’s presentation is, even if an activist artist who by no means belongs to any institution or settled mechanism, he still needs to learn to manage and market himself. In the last part of his presentation, John mentioned his tips of initiating public interactive works, tips of how to do the marketing, make postcards, T shirts, were to send the information and how to increase the visibility of a project, how to include children, ect. I am so glad to hear those issues from John. Not every artist is willing to talk these details, however, I think these events are equal important with the art project itself, because to attract more public participation is also a part of the work. Universities and art schools usually trained artists in every aspect of professional skills but seldom teach them the practical skill to make a living as an independent artist, how to make their work more visible, where to find funding resources to realize and promote the great artistic ideas. These skills will undoubtedly facilitate and enable a real public involved project, and make the community based art sustainable and autonomous.
John Sims’ Confederate Flag project helps me understand and also changed my understanding in flags. The way he redesigns and hangs flags, people’s reaction to them, and the tension it cause between history and present, white and black people, all these things reveal me the complex problems related to the flags. No mater the sentiment related to the flag is derived from individual memory or collective memories. The strong reaction to John’s work at least, has demonstrated the power of visual image. His works are always controversial. In 2007, John’s “The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag” ―a Confederate flag hung from a noose on a 13-foot gallows― exhibited at Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science, the work was called to remove by the Sons of Confederate Veterans for it was deemed disrespectful of the Confederate flag. Technically, the commander of the group cited existing Florida statutes that prohibit using the Confederate flag in any kind of abusive way. Personally, he described Sims as a gimmick artist and a purveyor of "hate speech" supported by the museum. Even before Sims' one-man show "Recoloration Proclamation: The Gettysburg Redress" opened in September 2004, there were protests and death threats. The Gettysburg College president ended upwith a bodyguard after the Ku Klux Klan sent an ugly e-mail. The FBI stepped in. However, it is true that art is about awareness; it is the severely antipathy and discomfort brought by the art work that shows the possibility to bring people of opposing sides together. On the other hand, John’s redesign and "recoloration." bravely responses to visual discrimination, challenges history and subverts the historical flag. As he said in the class: “ When people come to see my show, they don’t have to buy anything and they’ve been touched. They are like, ‘Okay, I’ll never look at the Confederate flag again the same way,”
John described his work as about visual terrorism, respect, and social self-esteem. It is also about race, religion, and collaborate branding. But I think just because his mathematic background, he is doing art as preciseness as scientists. The work is like a scientific research based on a visual context, it initiates a difficult discourse of psychological complexities of symbol racial tension. The public reaction to this symbolic history is dramatic, the uncontrolled human emotion cased by the visual image is also a significant part of the work. It directly and unequivocally deals with a symbol that represents the very heart of one of the disreputable part of American history. I admire his courage to address the problem and face it directly, but on the other hand, I am personally ambivalent about the some pieces of his work which designed as lynching instrument and exhibited in a public place. I felt the painful he caused in some audience’s heart is too harsh. As an artistic object, it may be more effective than others to raise attention and reflection, but to be exhibited in a public space, should artists responsible for public’s mental limitation? If address awareness always comes first, and if human feeling should always give place to the supreme artistic freedom, is the 911 attack really becomes the “greatest art”? The nation’s amendment rights give artists the privilege to express themselves in all manners, art has served as a cultural reflection of the times, and in which, different perspectives can be discussed, this is unquestionable. But I wander, where is an artists’ moral limitation?
Another thing I realized in John’s presentation is, even if an activist artist who by no means belongs to any institution or settled mechanism, he still needs to learn to manage and market himself. In the last part of his presentation, John mentioned his tips of initiating public interactive works, tips of how to do the marketing, make postcards, T shirts, were to send the information and how to increase the visibility of a project, how to include children, ect. I am so glad to hear those issues from John. Not every artist is willing to talk these details, however, I think these events are equal important with the art project itself, because to attract more public participation is also a part of the work. Universities and art schools usually trained artists in every aspect of professional skills but seldom teach them the practical skill to make a living as an independent artist, how to make their work more visible, where to find funding resources to realize and promote the great artistic ideas. These skills will undoubtedly facilitate and enable a real public involved project, and make the community based art sustainable and autonomous.
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