Agitprop: Art & Race

There were many projects presented in the AGITPROP Exhibition that had powerful meanings, but the one that caught my attention the most was the piece by Dread Scott. The piece by Dread Scott was titled "On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide". This performance piece was only performed once in 2014. Scott's piece was used to show the concept of "the struggle for freedom", which referenced the Civil Rights struggle faced in Birmingham Alabama. Dread Scott decided to reenact what had happened that time when the government used high-powered water hoses to hose down non-violent protestors. In order to reenact this brutality and struggle, Scott decided to attempt to walk into the strong jet of water to create a metaphor comparing the resistance of an individual and the actions of a violent protestor.

There are many protestors and activists who would applaud Dread Scott for his powerful piece, but there are also other art pieces that also shine a light on racial issues. Another art piece that caught my attention after reading about Scott's piece is that of Nate Hill. Like Dread Scott, Nate Hill is also an African American man who has done pieces based on racial issues. Hill's piece is titled "The White Ambassador", which was performed for about three times a week ending on February of 2012. Hill's piece focused on racism towards whites by blacks. The piece consisted of Nate Hill walking in the streets of Harlem, New York in whiteface, wearing a sign that read "White People DO NOT Smell Like Wet Dog" while chanting "We are white! We smell alright!". Nate Hills claims that this piece was entitled as an effort to tackle racist attitudes, and to prove that racism can go in any direction not only towards African Americans.

These two performance art pieces share a few things in common, which would explain why I chose to write about them. Both pieces involve racial issues that can easily be seen based on the actions of the artists. Dread Scott and Nate Hills use racial symbolism that provides their audience with insight about the theme of their work. They both share the theme of incorporating racial issues with a physical performance. Along with these physical performances, they both play a role that reverses the issues they are trying to expose. Scott reverses the situation of the water hoses by voluntarily walking towards it instead of being brought down. Hill reverses the idea of who is racist, by flipping the idea of "blackface" and using "whiteface" to show that black people can also be racist along with other races. Therefore, they both protest related and both focus on a single theme which includes racial issues. 

Although they might have similarities they do have their differences. One of these differences being that one piece focuses more on one race while the other reaches out for another. Dread Scott's piece tends to focus more on just how African Americans were treated, but Nate Hill focuses on the racial relationship between African Americans, white people, and other races in terms of who can be racist. These two performances both deliver a powerful message to their audiences. Even if it is a staged performance like that of Dread Scott's or more of a spontaneous performance like Hill's, they both reach the audience in their own way. In all, these two performance art pieces create one single form of activism to raise awareness of racial issues.