"I'm black. Now, let's deal with this social fact, and the fact of my stating it, together."(Kocur 182) This statement from Adrian Piper's installation "cornered" immediately grabs the attention of the racially conscience viewer, who is assumed to be white. The remainder of the dialogue seems bent on digging into the (white) viewer's subconcience guilt and attempts to turn the table on them: "In fact, some researchers estimate almost all purportedly white Americans have between 5% and 20% black ancerstory."(Kocur 184) What does this actually mean to the viewer? Does she assume that all whites view the idea of being black as a negative, or that blacks view the idea being white a positive? This is followed by a slew of questions demanding what this white viewer will do about their new found racial heritage.
After all the questions and accusations Piper puts on the viewer, I find myself to be unimpressed by the shallow assumptions she makes for myself and caucassion people in general. Although I can certainly appreciate her blunt and straightforward approach, I think these somewhat condescending generalizations about whites feeling embarressed or offended upon having their ancestory questioned is of very little value in the understanding of race issues in America. Her imagined scenario of a white person feeling pressure of coming out of the "caucassion closet" is simply not applicable to every white person's view on race equality. I can't claim to be totally free the natural tendency of making assumptions about about a person based on their apperance, but her assuming the I think race, and race alone is a damning attribute of a person is extreme at best. Few people I know would think about it as anything more that just an interesting example of the racial blending common in this country. Why would I care about having a pure racial background, if there is even such a thing? I have no idea what entirely consitutes my racial background, so what assumptions about myself do I have to cling to? I don't feel Piper wishes to deal with anything other than attempting to "corner" the white viewer into her demands for guilt or shame.
Kocur, Zoya and Leung, Simon. Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. 1st ed. Blackwell. 2005. 182-186.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Piper's "dialogue seems bent on digging into the (white) viewer's subconcience guilt and attempts to turn the table on them". I can see her point in making her argument in this "in your face" fashion, however for people who are not racist, it seems a little farfetched. Piper is almost assuming that everyone she is speaking to is white and racist towards people of color. Living in the South, I have formed a hatred for these type of people she is targeting, so I'm almost drawn to her style. However, reading it for myself, as a person who is so far from racist, it seems a bit ridiculous. It also makes me ask the question, "Does she assume that all whites view the idea of being black as a negative, or that blacks view the idea being white a positive?". I can understand her bent up hatred for the racist people in the world, however I think Piper needs to realize that not all people are like that.
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