Transcript of: Activism and Preservation: Fred Wilson’s E Pluribus Unum (Bridget Cooks, January 23, 2013).

Recorded lecture available from: https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/media/019s06b57c

Alright, thank you to Laura Holtzman for the introduction and also to Liz. Quite a read. And Jessica math is for the invitation and for getting me here. Thank you also to Fred Wilson for your work, for all of you, for dedicating the time to be here today. I also want to thank Hilary Vargo and Pam patents in who are the sign language interpreters for their labor up here. Quickly signing to make all of this accessible to more people. So I really do appreciate them. So I have been energized by the topic of today's symposium and energize even more so by all of the presentations we've heard today, I am an art historian and my talk today twice to focus on some of the histories of black protests in the mainstream art world. I have since coming here this morning, learned a lot about black Indianapolis. So please keep in mind that I didn't know everything I learned already when I wrote this. But I still can say that part of what I'm doing in this talk is trying to explain for knee someone who is black but not from Indianapolis, what my process was in terms of trying to understand what was happening here. Okay. I'm also enjoying the irony of having this symposium around the image of a freed slave and the 100, 150th anniversary year of the Emancipation Proclamation. That is not lost on me. What I hope to contribute to the conversation or some thoughts about Fred Wilson's unrealized work and about what the cancellation of the commission means within the context of art by African-Americans. What it tells us about the current moment of race relations in America, and what warnings it may offer for the future of public art. I'd like to discuss these thoughts by considering the roles of activism and preservation in this situation. And I'm particularly interested in thinking about activism and preservation from the perspectives of Fred Wilson on the ad hoc groups, citizens against slave image. And that title has been mentioned here today. So I'm not sure if it's appropriate for me to refer to this group or if I should just refer to people who are part of the community here that oppose the sculpture. But when I was doing research online, This was the name of an organization that kept coming up. Okay. So thinking about Fred Wilson's perspectives, the perspective of this organization, the organizations involved in constructing the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. Although I am not sure if Fred Wilson thinks of himself as an activist, I certainly do. In fact, I think that all black artists also have to be activists. As image makers. Black artists are all fighting the good fight to be visible, acknowledged, and even understood as a viewer, an art historian, I find Wilson's work is particularly poignant, smart, and nuanced, and activating what we already see in everyday life. His repositioning of objects require action for viewers. We are asked to participate making meaning of his art by thinking and reconsidering what we know and what we see. Through his ability to activate our everyday surroundings and column viewers to act. Fred Wilson isn't activists to me. I also understand the members of the against slave image organization as activists. They organized around a common and immediate goal to prevent E Pluribus Unum from being created and installed for the public in downtown Indianapolis. They picketed in front of the state capital for a gathering referred to as a quote, anti-slavery rally to bring public awareness to their concerns. They wrote immediate release that clearly stated their position regarding the sculpture on their webpage, one slave enough.wix.com. And they invited Kirk Savage and art historian who specializes in 19th century American sculpture to speak to them about the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. This kind of emergency formation of an activist group has precedents and history of African-American people's engagement with the mainstream art world. I want to give you some examples of that. In the past, we can think of Benny Andrews, artists, BD Andrews, co-founding of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, organized in 1969 to protest the exclusion of black artists. And the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition titled Harlem on my mind, cultural capital of Black America. We can also recall faith wrinkles, co-founding of the 1970s, one organization. Where are we at that form to protest the absence of women in the mainstream art galleries and museums. The more recent past, we have an example of black artists and curators organizing exhibitions to contest black representation in a mainstream museum. In 1995 example, the Whitney Museum of American Art traveled its exhibition titled Black male representations of black masculinity and contemporary art. In preparation for the exhibition stay in Los Angeles. Los Angeles based curator and community activists Cecil Ferguson coordinated a series of supplemental exhibitions to present different images of black masculinity. Although Ferguson did not see the black male exhibition, he was disturbed by the inclusion of photographs of black male nudes and images of black male criminals, even for the purpose of social critique. Because there was no good faith relationship or any sense of trust between Black Americans and the art museum at-large. The Whitney's position as author of the Black male exhibition and influence the interpretation of the artworks as uncritical representations of stereotypes. Ferguson, that three exhibitions were called collectively African-American representations of masculinity. And you organize them to further his personal definition of positive black images. Although Ferguson objected to the black male exhibition, he did not campaign against it. Instead, he provided alternative images to add to the discourse of black no representation. In a more recent example of organization and activism, African-American women artists Betty SAR and Howard Dean of Handel, began a campaign in 1997 against mainstream museums presentations of art by African-American artist Kara Walker on the grounds that Walker was in Betty sars words, a sociopath for making her fantasy images of slavery. In the case of the campaign against Kara Walker, sovereign pin del were unable to reach their goal of an institution, institutional boycott of Walker's work. However, both women have spoken widely about their objection to her work. Then Dell has published a book about the interpretation of Kara Walker's work that debate It's validity. It's called Kara Walker, yes or no. Sorry, reactivated her series of artworks from the 1970s that revolve around the racial stereotype of Miami to offer alternatives to walkers method for dealing with our slave past. Although these four examples provide a precedent for black protest, none of them are identical to this one around Wilson's work in Indianapolis. In researching the commission and its failure to materialize. I asked myself in preparation for today, what would the appearance of Wilson sculpture have done to race relations in Indianapolis? Why was the commission cancel? What was the fear around the sculpture really about? I'm going to repeat some things that have been said this morning, but briefly. The original state Soldiers and Sailors Monument commemorates the Mexican civil and Spanish American wars and the neoclassical style typical of late 19th century Americans sculpture. The monument has two sides. One depicting war and the other piece, Wilson's designed for his commission focuses on the monuments single black man who was neither a soldier nor sailor. On the p side of the monument, the man sits at the feet of an allegorical figure of victory or liberty. Mouths parted, one arm raised, clutching the chain of his monocle. Um, let me see if I can I'll show you both of these so you can go back and forth. He grips the edge of the platform to maintain his place and support the weight of his body. Using Indiana limestone, Wilson proposed to recreate and reposition the freed man to sit up without his chains and look and reach forward instead of trying to engage with the allegorical figure who hovers over him and ignores this upward gaze. I read Wilson's proposed work as a sand Kofi image syncopal being assembled from The Economist Dante people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, meaning you can undo or correct your mistakes from the past. This symbol is traditionally depicted as a bird that looks over its back toward what is behind. E pluribus unum embodies this desire to embrace black history in order to produce a knowledgeable future. We presented separately from the group of figures in the monument. Wilson's Friedman would sit alone holding the flag representing countries of the African diaspora. In this new position, the freed men would be associated instead with a much larger group of people who are part of his past. But he also seems to signal through the raising of the flag. This gesture of holding the flag up lends itself to different interpretations. For instance, he could be read as telling people of African ancestry to come to the States and join him. Alternately, he may be sending, sending the diaspora a warning not to make the journey. Because true freedom and equality has yet to be realized. The phrase e pluribus unum out of many, one which is in grave beside the cheek of the freed men in the monument. Maybe further to the man is one freed slave of many human type who stands in for others like him. However, in Wilson's proposed sculpture, which takes the monuments engraving as its title, the phrase takes on an, another significance for me. The 19th century when the act was passed to press that phrase on all US coinage, the phrase was a National Declaration of unity and diversity. Many ethnicities coming together in one nation under the United States. Wilson Steve sport flag brings the promise of unity back to the phrase for me. And ask viewers to think about the hope for black strength in numbers here in Indianapolis, indiana, nationwide and throughout the diaspora collaged on the Friedman's flag. Even as I was reading that some of the objections to the sculpture where that Wilson's Friedman didn't have any shoes or a shirt. I continue to look for an answer that seems to be more satisfying for me and I settled on a few of them. And some of these really come directly from, um, the, the website of the citizens against slave image. The first is that for members of this group, it is better to keep the representations of African-Americans in slavery invisible. Seconds, the members believed that there's nothing affirming. Are we presenting a moment of freedom from slavery in a new way? And third, that the invisibility of the freedmen and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is better than drawing attention to a struggle. I also kept thinking about Wilson as an artist and as I'm claiming him to be an activist, offering an opportunity to address the demeaning attitudes towards blacks that happened monumentalized and embedded city's public identity officially since 1902 through, through the monument. I think part of the basis for the anger around e pluribus unum was fear of the work's potential to activate and unresolved racial issues that date back to slavery. But I think the anger was also about the desire for local black self-representation. And from what I've heard already today, I really, I'm I'm glad I was on the right track. The group's concerns, as I understand them, were about wanting a new black image instead of an image that asks viewers to reconceptualize their ideas of slavery. Wanted an image that would move past slavery altogether. If it is true that the opportunity to say no to Wilson's representation indicates the desire to have control and a voice in the city's decisions that represent black people in Indianapolis. Then this desire for self-representation is aligned with the four examples of black protest that I discussed a few minutes ago. My sense is that the opportunity to organize, the opportunity to say no to the city's plan for the sculpture was the result of a much larger history of poor race relations and dissatisfaction with black representation. That did not begin or end with the city's plan for cultural trail. Although I'm not a Hoosier. And I think that's the third time I've ever said that word. Although I'm not a Hoosier or a historian of race relations in Indianapolis. And we're all really lucky that those scholars are actually here in this room. I think this act of opposition to black representation could have happened in any number of American cities. The struggle toward black equality is national, nationally and D a spork wide, right? It's something that's not just specific to Indianapolis. The struggle is perpetual across time and space. It seems that e pluribus unum inspired fear about how black Americans would be interpreted today. Because Wilson's designed represents multiple time periods simultaneously. Would it have been interpreted as presenting a slavery pass, an African present and the hope of a great Pan-African this future. What it represent black Americans in 1,865.19 0 to the year the monument was dedicated. And the early years of the 21st century, perhaps there was anxiety over how or if viewers would be able to tell the difference between those moments in black American life. And indeed, if you hold on to the hope that the passing of time somehow equals social progress, It's often hard to tell what age we are living in. Well, there have no doubt been some social gains since 1,865.19 0 to the Keaton. Two of the key contextual years for considering the freedmen representation in the monument. A recent Associated Press poll shows that the majority of Americans still harbor racist attitudes against black Americans. And that this majority has increased since we have elected our first black president. Hate crimes based on race, sexuality, and religion have increased since, since 2008. A day before the last presidential election in effigy of President Obama, was symbolically Lynch from the roof of a gas station in Gloucester, Virginia. Blackface themed parties continue to be held on college campuses across the nation. And I'd also add to this list that I have three examples that del often spoke to us about today, right? That weird, it's confusing to know exactly what century we're in. We are currently experiencing a backlash against multicultural gestures of progress. As soon as they are made. What gains that are made towards racial and sexual equality or tenuous at best. Wilson's Commission provided an opportunity to address problems with black and visibility and success still facing us today. And this was an opportunity that some people did not want to have. So e pluribus unum would a force these comparisons. And I do want you guys to really look at this slide. We have seen other comparative slides, but this one has all of the nations of the different countries that wilson initially planned to be in the Freedman's hands. So this work would have forced these comparisons of black freedom and success between 18, 65 in the early 21st century. The multiculturalist liberal may have quickly defended the rhetoric of steady progress concerning race relations. And presume that by now the year. And I was thinking particularly in, in 2008 and the year that Obama was first elected, a comparison would reveal the obvious progress of black people, perhaps part of what is at stake in the organized protests against E pluribus unum is the realization that not enough social change has taken place. Visual comparison, Wilson sculpture would have asked viewers to consider what has changed, what has stayed the same. The sculptor, I think, also asks us to consider Americans relationship to Africa. When I look at the schematic for the proposal, I think about our black president who's African roots are more immediate than most African-Americans. What messages does Black America san to African peoples? Now that we have a black president, does the proposed sculpture send a message through throughout the diaspora about the potential for black triumph in our current moment. Would it call on people of the diaspora to activate their potential for success in true freedom. Along with the ways in which we consider e pluribus unum in relation to activism, activation and calls to action. I'd like us to consider the role of preservation as well for multiple perspectives. First, I think about the potential of e pluribus unum to preserve the dissatisfaction with representations of black men in Civil War monuments. And I also think about the loss of that act of preservation because of the cancellation of the commission, Wilson's project would have preserved the objection to the denigration of the freedmen in the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Second, people who've opposed e pluribus unum preserve the acceptance of the freedmen. The original Soldiers and Sailors Monument without enough commentary or protest by opposing the new sculpture being visibility of the freedmen and the monument is preserved. I have not come across any recent evidence of public criticism of the freedmen figure in the existing monument. Only criticism of Wilson's proposal to you and to re-envision it. And I may have missed something and there are people here who can correct me. I2 like paul Mullins who spoke just moments ago, consider the 1960s criticism of the monument by Freeman Henry Morris Marie apropos today, how I want it to find the image of a black man on the p side of the monument instead of the war side. How misguided to monumental eyes, the contrived absence of black men and women in the fight for freedom. I'm inspired by Mary's imagine call to the Friedman when he said, and this is a quotation from Mary awake, awake, you deserve a place at liberty side not at her feet. Assist her soberly to hold up the flag while others rejoice. Right? So this is criticism of the monument, but this is from almost 100 years ago. Wilson's project recognized this call for national belonging and racial pride that Marie uttered. The documentation, Wilson's proposal and responses to it in the Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Recorder, Nouveau and modernist art notes. The online photographs, videos, and form about the work on Fred Wilson indeed.org on that website will preserve the evidence of this discourse for as long as that side is funded. And lastly, if we are lucky somehow the moment of today will also be preserved as part of the discourse is about municipal histories, monuments, community collaborations, racial representation and public art. So try to imagine for a moment if Wilson's Friedman was our black president, grasping the edge of the national platform to get a better view of what lies before him. With the sculpture symbolized proof that the American Dream can come true. Is this a message that we can uphold as real and valid or only as rhetorical idealism. These questions would solicit many different answers from the viewing public. Yet the cancellation of the work and the cultural trail preempted this question as well as many others from being asked Republic art. Perhaps this discourse around e pluribus unum and the Indianapolis cultural trail will encourage more people to get involved in new representation of black life in the arts. Not to further prevent black visibility, but to increase the understanding of its richness and complexity, we should welcome opportunities for unprecedented conversations like the ones this symposium has fostered between diverse black communities. And I think at the very least, the situation around the commission proves that there's no such thing as a singular black community. So we should welcome these conversations. And I know that people from the audience, I've been standing up and saying, where do we go now? And needing to have better relationships between black communities, city government and art and educational institutions if we're going to have a future for public art. One last thing lesson that I think we can all learn from because of this controversy is that the burden of representation regarding racial representation is alive and well. And Fred Wilson alluded to this, right? There's no one sculpture that everybody is going to agree on. The burden of representation is something that haunt African-Americans and all people of color in many national arenas, including public art. Initiatives for more representation are often in battle because of this. They're just aren't enough representations of who we are to even hint at our diversity. Don't expect that the process of approving public art projects that depict people of color will be neatly resolved through conversation. Namely, because I don't think consensus to approve any artwork is a reasonable goal. But I think the conversations will clarify what's at stake for competing interests. Hopefully, future activism will bring us closer to a greater understanding of the complexity of racial representation in the arts. And closer to a greater understanding of the depth of unresolved social issues in the 21st century. Thank you.