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August 14, 2020

Letter from the editor:

Today, video essays on race, new National Park posters look back, director and artist Derek Jarman’s personal cottage is on exhibition in London, and more.

Video essays are fast becoming one of my favorite things, and when an English professor recently asked me about some innovative essays, I immediately pointed out some podcasts and video essays as the forms that are evolving the “essay” in new and interesting ways.

With that in mind, curator Cydnii Wilde Harris picked some of her favorite recent video essays that address inequality, race, and Black Lives Matter, and I recommend her choices, including a new series by Michael Tucker:

… This video essay examines how Get Out utilizes a relatable premise — meeting your significant other’s parents — to reveal new means of creating tension, centering the protagonist’s distinct worldview as a Black man … The implications of racial identity affect not only the protagonist Chris’s motivations, but also how the audience experiences the mounting tension and eventual terror of the story … “A New Perspective in Horror” exemplifies how the video essay is uniquely suited to communicate complicated issues of race through filmic language.

Did that pique your interest? If so, all of them are worth a look.

Now, a visual break. Check out these new, soothing posters by the National Park Services created with a fun WPA (Workers Progress Administration) style.

And the news out of East Jerusalem is distressing. Sixty musicians, artists, writers, and filmmakers, including Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Lawrence Abu Hamdam, Carmen Callil, and William Dalrymple, signed an open letter about the ransacking of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM), the Yabous Cultural Centre, and the Shafaq Cultural Network in occupied East Jerusalem, and the arrest of their directors. Hakim Bishara reports:

The letter called on the British government “to condemn the raids and to take action to stop Israel’s ongoing annexation.” The authors also joined Palestinian calls for “targeted and lawful sanctions” against Israel, focusing on trade, arms sales, and security co-operation.

In a statement after his release from detention, Khoury wrote, “Other than the ongoing daily policies the Israelis are trying to enforce in East Jerusalem, we do not know what triggered the attack. Loving Beethoven and your country seem to be a dangerous combination.”

It’s troubling news but part of a long line of questionable tactics by the Israeli security forces against Palestinian arts organizations.

Then, if you’re a fan of director Derek Jarman, like I am — a personal favorite is Blue (1993) but a close second is Caravaggio (1986) — a current exhibition in London might interest you. The curators of the show have transported Jarman’s personal cottage to the Garden Museum, and it helps illustrate, according to reviewer Sam Moore, “how the artist saw the world, even as his sight was fading.” Moore adds, “This installation illustrates how personal Prospect Cottage was to Jarman, and imbues the experience of walking through the exhibition with a kind of ghostly quality; knowing that this is a recreation of a building on the other side of the country is an uncanny feeling — one that enhances both the feeling of a connection with Jarman, and the ways in which his art reckons with the idea of loss.”
And the final link is this video of a Black man who fully supports the flying of the Confederate flag. As writer Jemele Hill mentioned on Twitter, many of us could’ve never predicted David Chapelle’s Clayton Bigsby was “real,” but here you go. 2020 can’t end soon enough.

Basking in Derek Jarman’s Private Utopia

A recreation of the cottage where Jarman spent his final days, an exhibition at the Garden Museum creates a response to HIV that is at once personal and political, shining a light on wider issues of institutional homophobia.

Sam Moore

Video Essays That Address Race, Inequality, and the Movement for Black Lives

Curator Cydnii Wilde Harris highlights some of her favorite works in the Black Lives Matter Video Essay Playlist.

Cydnii Wilde Harris

SPONSORED

SAIC Launches The Future of Our Plans, a Virtual Showcase Featuring the Graduate Class of 2020

The exhibition continues through August with programs including daily viewing recommendations, written reflections on the artwork’s prevailing themes, and a conversation series hosted by faculty.

News

The High Line Wants You to Weigh in on Its Next Public Sculptures

From playful to political, there are 80 options by artists including Nick Cave, Mona Hatoum, and Wang Sishun.

Check Out the Innovative Winners of LACMA’s Art + Technology Grant

From mythic navigation to generating new built and ecological environments, this year’s cohort seems prepared to take on the future.

Leading Artists Condemn Israeli Raids on Palestinian Cultural Centers

Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Brian Eno, and Tai Shani are among 60 musicians, artists, writers, and filmmakers who signed a recent open letter condemning an Israeli police raid of three cultural centers.

New National Parks Posters Keep the Spirit of the WPA Alive

The “Recreate Responsibly” campaign draws inspiration from classic 1930s park promotions.

Elisa Shoenberger

Featured Opportunity

Foundwork
2020 Artist Prize
The honoree will receive an unrestricted $10,000 grant and studio visits with this year’s distinguished jurors: Natasha Ginwala, Kalup Linzy, Anat Ebgi, Humberto Moro, Rachel Adams, and Michael Ruiz.
Application Fee: Foundwork Membership ($4 USD/month, cancel any time)
Deadline: October 15, 2020 | foundwork.art/artist-prize

View more opportunities

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