Blackbirding
Blackbirding - the practice of kidnapping Pacific Islanders and using them as forced labor, in particular on sugar and cotton plantations in Australia.
My installation, BLACKBIRDING, creates a conversation about the disparities created by mass media of the time, the process of abuse practiced, and the shadowy outcome that still exists.
The installation consists of elements unified in a conversation to question the past, introduce the unknown, and squash the romanticized perception we hold in the present.
The foundation of the work begins with projections of the racially politicized cartoons on to an early image of Samoan Warriors in a grove of palms.
From a distance, the image of the warriors is clear and distinct. But as one approaches, the image breaks into random dot patterns, losing detail and clarity. The projection amplifies, manipulates, and obliterates those who stand defiantly in a grove.
Bundles of string pour from the surface of the image. Attached to individuals in the image, while others randomly have no attachment. The stings represent narratives that exist, have existed, have been cut short, or have the potential to continue.
Behind the projection/construction is a series of photos floating over the surface of a dark banner. The photos are on brittle paper with creases in patterns that suggest periods of abduction, induction, and resignation of the people. The photos are mounted with entomology pins floating over the banner's surface.
The banner is covered with the explanation of blackbirding repeated countless times over the graphite-buffed surface. The text is only made possible with the shift of perspective and one’s desire to know what is hidden.
The arrangement of time moves left to right, into the past, while graphite is pulled from the surface of the banner to the gallery's white walls to replicate the sugar fields.
The installation includes a takeaway. On a shelf is a stack of postcards surrounded by the words Consume, Assume, Deplete, and Withdraw.
The postcards have an image of a black-faced hula doll posed in a color-saturated jungle. On the back, the address notes the exhibition with a poem in the message:
Earth has worn them…..
Gouges, wrinkles ripples only hint at the marks
neglect
scares into the future already forgotten
echo
language offers benign hostility
ignore
sounds sharp piercing
silent
expectation convention resignation
withering
