Artstor Image Group: http://library.artstor.org/#/group/e25d6255-2ebc-4edc-83fe-ee911a2f1c98;size=24;page=1;sort=0;name=Power%20of%20Protest%20-%20Courtney’s%20Exhibit%2010
Opening Text to “Power of Protest”:
There has always been power through protest. Many of the things that exist in our modern society are only here today because people before us fought for them. In the United States especially, protest existed at the foundation everything, and is present now more than ever as a form of achieving progress towards a more civilized future. While protest can seem aggressive or violent at times, it is necessary to understand that without protest, we cannot achieve progress.
Exhibit Arrangement/Installation:
The exhibit itself is going to be in a square room, with walls that are black, not white like usual museums, and graffiti or paint splatters all over the walls over the black paint. The lighting of the exhibit should be dim, but have spotlights on each of the pieces being shown.
The first thing you would see in this exhibit would be the Untitled piece photographed by Larry Qualls at the American Fine Arts Co. This piece would be on a wall blocking your path from the rest of the exhibit, forcing all visitors to give it your upmost attention. After wards, you would be given the opportunity to move around the wall to the left or right, to observe the rest of the exhibit which would be along the remaining three walls of the square room (With the main piece existing on its own in the front, only viewable while entering). In the middle of the room, would be the top of the sculpture “El Ángel de la Indepencia” that exists in Mexico City. The sculpture represents independence, and a celebration of protest. It is described as representing law, war, justice, and peace; it would be a central point in the exhibit as a reminder that protest should be encouraged when the government is not doing well. The people are responsible to holding the government accountable, and justice should be served for the government, as well as the people.
On the left wall, the next four photos/paintings would be hung in order. “Our Daily Bread”, a photograph of Susan Ravitz protesting the U.S wars, the photo set of “war Protest” and “Freedom March”, and “Mustard Race Riot”. All of these showcase the grittiness of protest, and I feel like they hold a lot of emotion. Not only is it anger but it also shows hope, which is the point of protesting in the beginning. The painting “Our Daily Bread” shows very initial forms of protest; protesting against the upper-class people and being forced to beg and demand basic human necessities, like bread, simply to survive. Both photographs demonstrate the concept of not being happy with a government’s decisions, and therefore calling them out on it. The photo of Susan Ravitz shows a great deal of hope when you look into her eyes, as if she was demanding to be given attention and have her voice heard, because she truly believed in what she was asking for. The piece “Mustard Race Riot”, shows general riots taking place because of distaste of current situations, however the idea of these images being placed side by side and reprinted makes the statement that protest is necessary, and ever-present.
On the middle wall, I would place “Riot” by Tomoo Gokita and “There’s a Riot Going On” by Joyce Pensato. These are both more abstract pieces, however my interpretation of them is that they highlight anger, and a lack of trust in things around you. I feel like both are important to showcase because it will make the viewer recognize that when there is a hatred for society, and the idea that things are not working in a way that they should be, it is extremely important for us as the people to step up and make it known that not only are we not happy, but we will do something about it.
On the right wall, I would end the exhibit with the murals, “Healing Walls: an Inmate’s Journey full”, and “Lierderes de la Comunidad”. The murals show happiness and diversity, which is signs of a successful community. There is text within the second mural that describes how important it is to live a happy life, in a world where war is not a priority but instead the priority is justice, which to me speaks to the purpose of protest. The first mural is dedicated to healing, and I feel as though healing after social change is achieved is a very important tenant to protest – we protest because life is worth it, and what we fight for is worth it in the end when we have that time to heal. However, that healing and the festival celebrating life will never be possible without protest. The murals are the highlight of my exhibit because I hope to inspire the viewer at the end and remind them that while protesting may seem messy, complicated, and even impossible, the outcome will make it worth it in the end.
Self-Analysis:
My goal for this exhibit was to highlight the purpose and power of protesting, because in our current day a lot of people have seemed to forgotten how much protesting has accomplished over generations. Things like voting, civil rights, even gay rights, would not have been possible by sitting quietly and minding your business. The #TakeAKnee protest is in the news a lot lately, and people disregard it because they forget that while you respect your country, you also love it enough to want to change it…through protesting.
I chose these pieces while searching things such as – protest, riot, healing, social change, justice, etc – into Artstor. I closed the categories out to painting/photographs, and sculptures/installations. These pieces stuck out to me both aesthetically and symbolically. I personally like things that are colorful, however for the serious side of protesting I liked the idea of having more black and white pieces, because they show the emotion of the subjects. However, the color and pop came more with the pieces about healing and progress after protest.
I didn’t find too many sculptures or 3D works I liked, so the one sculpture I found happened to make a lot of sense to have as an overarching focus for the viewer, and so I knew it should be in the center. Then, I found the Untitled piece, which was colorful and not specific to any particular protest, and so I wanted that to be like the “sneak peak” item that the viewer would see immediately to get their mind rolling. Then I put the pieces in order of pieces that were of protests, to abstract pieces showing emotions related to protesting, to the pieces that demonstrate hope that after all of the struggles of protest, things get better than ever, and will prove to be worth it.
I didn’t want any kind of performance element, however I had a very specific idea of what the feel of the room would be, very gritty and not at all formal. This is why I made specific descriptions of how the room would be set up and showcased (lighting, wall colors). I wanted it to feel dark, only because white walls and calm background music like normal museums would be too nice. Protesting by definition is not at all nice, so I wanted the exhibit to feel edgy and an invitation to do things unlike how they are usually done.
