RACE

What is Race? Well, according to the encyclopedia, usually refers to the categorization of humans into populations of groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. In other words, all that separates us from each other is our characteristics, our appearance. But because of these physical differences in appearance a social status has evolved in America. Artists along with many others, though out the years have tried to break away from this way of thinking and to make us question this social status that has developed. Chris Burden's installation Fist of Light ( 1992-3) was a good example of how society ignores the diversity and is fixed on only seeing one color. It constituted a proposal for a sealed, air conditioned chamber housing more than a thousand 500-watt light bulbs, the goal being " to totally saturate the entire space with light, attempting to remove all color in a visual analog of fission" ( Kocur and Leung 201). Our society has tried to remove the color, the variety from American culture, the favor. It only wants us to recognize the whiteness. Is society so blinded by this whiteness that we cannot see and accept anything else? The variety, the absent of sameness, that is the true ideal image. Its the differences that bring about this true image. And what is whiteness anyway? Who came up the this term, or any term of race? The differences is what makes up our society, it is what makes us a part of each other. Adrian Piper states that in fact, some researchers estimate that almost all purportedly white Americans have between 5% and 20% black ancestry. ( Kour and Leung 184). So does this mean that their is no such thing as white? That we are all just a combination of each other? And in that being said, what is race again?

Kocur, Zoya and Leung, Simon. Theory in Comtemporary Art since 1985.

1st ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2005 184, 201 Print.