First Impression
When I saw this for the first time, I was amazed and confused. It was almost as if Ward collected a bunch of old shoes from the flea market and just glued them onto the tire. Another thing that she did was that she hung the tire with a rope. I did not know why, probably to add more spice to her work. I know for a fact that Ward was not trying to portray a swing, like the ones in a playground. I thought she was trying to symbolize that people that were racially discriminated were treated like trash.
Analysis
After analyzing this artwork, I finally realized what Ward was trying to portray. The tire, which was actually used as a swing, represented the concept of free floating, specifically illustrating the times when children were able to run out and play during school recess, after school, and during the summer. The tire is not held by an ordinary rope, however; it is held by a noose, which represents the practice of lynching, or killing people by hanging them. Once I found out what the rope symbolized, I was thinking, “Oh shoot, this definitely means something.” Finally, I carefully analyzed the shoe tips and tongues, which are regularly used for protection. Instead, they represented the men, women, and children that were killed because of racism.
Overall, this artwork demonstrates the unconscious belief that a lot of people have lost their lives due to discrimination and violence, and we are not paying attention to this. I believe that Ward, by doing this artwork, tried to convey her message like this because art does not have to contain any words or messages. There are a lot of things that came out of this piece, and I felt those things when I analyzed it. Ward wanted her audience to understand that this is how we are supposed to perceive the world. We all think that the world is going to be alright, but it is actually not. There are people around the world still being discriminated for who they are and what background that they come from.
While I was analyzing this, I was thinking about the Tainos, who were the first people to settle on the Island of Hispaniola, which is what we know today as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Once Columbus and the Spaniards completed their voyage to the New World, they killed off the Tainos so that they can claim the land for themselves; on top of that, they enslaved and forced them to find any gold or treasure. The Civil Rights Movement also came to mind. Specifically, I was thinking about Emmitt Till, the young African-American male who was killed because of his color. This shows that racism and xenophobia have existed for a very long time. Everybody, no matter his or her ethnic background, is human, and everybody should be treated the same. It is unjust to kill someone off like that just because you have envy for what he or she is.
