Search results | Digital Grinnell

Title: Foundations
Description: When confronting the reality of plantation slavery in America, aspects of life which seemed normal in the early 1880’s are often difficult to conceptualize today. In this block, the artist calls attention to the tradition of child raising, in which slaves were given the task of nursing and raising their master’s progeny. It seems counter-intuitive that one could believe a slave so unworthy of human dignity, yet at the same time entrust them with the life of their child. In this block, a portrait of a slave with their master’s baby is framed by a pattern comprised of enlarged images of a human cell, encouraging a contemplation of the hypocrisies present in the theoretical foundations of slavery, including the supposed biological and intellectual inferiority of black people. Most often, slaves bore responsibilities foundational to the prosperity and functioning of their owners; they were worthy of motherhood but not the recognition of full humanity. By featuring a female-bodied slave in this block, the artist also pushes the viewer to contemplate the highly gendered nature of slave work and how it reveals inconsistencies in the theoretical foundations of racial superiority in America.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25493

Title: Generations
Description: This block depicts two parallel scenes: the photograph on the right captures a class of school children, and the photo on the left shows a group of people at some celebration. The figures in the photo on the left are wearing formal attire even as some kneel in the grass in the foreground. Is this really a celebration? If so, what are they celebrating? Although it is difficult to ascertain who these people are and why their photographs were being taken, the two photographs call to mind the nonstop progression of generational change. The polka-dots, stars, and diamond-shaped flower petals appear to rotate around the two photographs in a circular motion, creating the sensation of a whirlpool in constant revolution. In what ways do generational shifts impact how we visualize freedom today?
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25484

Title: Loving v. Virginia
Description: In 1967, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously voted to dismantle all state laws prohibiting intermarriage, overriding legal restrictions based on race written in 1883. In this block, created by studio assistant Leina’ala Voss, the first page of the Loving v. Virginia court transcript serves as a partial background on which two rings and a set of keys have been arranged; these objects symbolize the bond of marriage and evoke the feeling of a shared home. To the left of the court transcript the artist has placed a net, surrounded by metal nails, buttons, and fragments of colored flowers. Beneath the netting the words “race mixing is communism” appear as a headline above an image of a white protester, his face concealed behind dark sunglasses. This image is juxtaposed against a photograph which shows laughing children and their parents, innocent and unbothered by the chaos which surrounds them. By placing symbolic objects representative of marriage and domesticity alongside a supreme court document and Loving v. Virginia protest imagery, this block depicts how love itself has become a highly politicized issue defenseless against the noxious gass of racism and hatred. This block also reminds the viewer that even today we must not take our rings and keys, and the people we love, for granted; for there once was a time when even the love we feel for our family was unlawful in the eyes of our constitution.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25516

Title: Windows
Description: This block depicts four distinct scenes, yet they are part of the same world. Placid scenes of rural and urban Iowa, set side by side alongside depictions of white Iowans in the process of buying and selling African people. This goal of this block is to challenge the illusion of innocence that has colored our reality of slave auctions and all other dehumanizing and violent aspects of the slave trade. The juxtaposed images of Iowan rural life and images of the Iowan slave trade evokes tension and conflict under an apparent calm. In what ways are we complicit in this calm, and in what ways can we challenge it?
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25496

Title: “Fear God, Tell the Truth, and Make Money”
Description: “Fear God, tell the truth and make money” was the motto of The Iowa Bystander, a newspaper established by ten black businessmen in Des Moines, Iowa in 1894. The Iowa Bystander targeted a black audience and employed black writers, unlike most Iowa newspapers at the time who would not hire black journalists. The Bystander outspokenly criticized American society, taking on several different issues such as the Ku Klux Klan, racist advertising practices, and unequal treatment of blacks in the American armed forces. Most black newspapers in the United States at this time had an average lifespan of about nine years, but the Bystander lasted more than eighty years due to its strong leadership under publishers like John Lay Thompson and J.B. Morris, making it one of the most successful black newspapers in the country. This block incorporates different clippings from the Iowa Bystander. The clippings include several ads for employment opportunities, an advertisement for a colored cafe, and an article about the Iowa State Federation Colored Women’s Club. The paper paid tribute to various women in the ranks of the club, and included beautiful portraits of many of the women involved. Through their journalism, the Bystander was able to empower and connect blacks across America. Newspapers like the Bystander played a critical role in uniting black communities and creating a space for them in white America.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25509