TRASH, CLASS, CONSUMPTION, AND THE POLITICS OF RACE ©2012
Transart Institute MFA in Creative Practice Final Thesis
June 1, 2012
Written by: Dianne Smith
www.diannesmithart.com
diannesmithart@gnail.com
Faculty: Myron Beasley, Thesis Advisor
Colin Chase, Studio Advisor
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 3
PREFACE .................................................................................................................................. 4
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 6
TRASH, CLASS AND CONSUMPTION ...................................................................................14
ONE MAN’S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE ..................................................................................... 19
GENTRIFICATION, CONSUMPTION, AND IDENTITY ............................................................23
A BRIEF HISTORY .................................................................................................................................................. 23
HARLEM IS CHANGING .......................................................................................................................................... 26
GENTRIFICATION AND/OR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ....................................................29
POLITICS, RACE AND IDENTITY ............................................................................................32
CONNECTING ARTISTIC PRACTICE TO RESEARCH ...........................................................36
MY ARTISTIC JOURNEY ........................................................................................................................................ 39
PRACTICE TO RESEARCH ..................................................................................................................................... 41
CLOSING THOUGHTS .............................................................................................................44
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................46
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to Klaus and Cella for allowing me this amazing opportunity, and to my
advisors Myron Beasley, Colin Chase and Mary Ting for your wisdom. To Jean Marie
for welcoming me on my first day, to the Titwelve and host of other students.
I am eternally grateful to my Mom for being such an amazing anchor, to my Dad for
always allowing me my voice. Thank you to the Rev, Dr. Calvin Butts and my
Abyssinian Church family for your support. Thank you to the amazing people in my life, I
love you all: Toby, Lizzette, Sidra, Valentine, Calvin, James, Carol, Melissa, Xenobia
and Willa, each of you told me I could do this, and to my beloved Harlem community a
special thanks. The words written in these pages owe so much to so many people.
Thank you!
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Preface
Focusing on the amount of waste I produce daily, evolved into art making with
my trash. Doing so made me think about my options and access as a consumer. It
became clear to me that my choices are based on my identity. Looking at my trash
became a deconstruction of self: an observation of my external genealogy, but at the
same time it was an internal cultural, social, and economic investigation. How does the
trash I accumulate tell the story of my history: culturally, socially, economically and
politically? The memories of growing up in Belize came flooding back to me, along with
remembrance of the community I called home in the South Bronx.
The truth about both communities is that they provide the seed for this research
paper. Although, I didn’t know it at the time, it is where I first learned the importance of
communal living. The ideas of newly assigned values and the reuse of materials were
crucial to our way of life. How we consumed was in direct relationship to our friends,
neighbors and family members. The creativity and ingenuity of the adults insured that
no family did without. No one would go hungry, homeless, or shirtless; even childcare
services were interchangeable. What I also recall about my childhood was the
significance of aesthetics. The homes were always decorated as well as spotless and
there was always some sort of art on the walls.
Many communities are rooted in their natural surroundings and the use and
reuse of materials to produce reconstructed items with newly assigned value. The
transformation of these items creates an organic and communal form of sustainability
that is tied to identity: culture, race, waste, consumption, politics, economics, class,
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religion, social structure, and the environment. Global Black communities not unlike the
village of Harlem have become participants in gentrification and/or development. For
some it represents “revitalization” while for others it is considered a “transformation” of
self and their relationship to the community, as well as cultural context. As a member of
the Harlem community and a citizen of the world I am interested in how the politics of
race, consumption, class and trash in the community changes based on gentrification
and/or development.
Earlier research explored the sustainability and polarities that live between race,
politics, gentrification, identity, and the ways in which consumption is influenced by each
of them. I am continuing this investigation from more of a psychological lens. In what
ways does the use of syllogisms support particular ideologies? Can a community like
Harlem be compared to Haiti, its capital, Port-au-Prince, and its “cultural capital,”
Jacmel? I am also interested in how International contemporary Black artists examine
these issues by using discarded and/or everyday objects in their work. I am interested in
looking at their practice as it relates to mine, as well as, their theoretical and aesthetic
approach.
Research methods will include various conversations and interviews with people
in the Harlem community: artists, friends, neighbors and business owners. Also, there
are countless people, and host of characters I encounter daily when walking up, or
down Lenox Avenue. Some of these folks, I don’t always get to say more than a hello,
give a slight gaze, or nod to. However, they are a vital part of the community’s
landscape, and help shape my perception and experiences in the neighborhood. I’d be
remiss if I did not include socializing, which is a huge part of the Harlem community.
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I have interviewed people of Haitian descent living in the neighborhood and those
who have spent considerable time on the ground in Haiti. Specifically, Melissa Thornton
who is gracious enough to be my eyes and ears while there. She had similar
conversations (as I did in Harlem) while moving through the community. Whether it is
riding, or waiting for the Tap Tap, talking to the fishermen on the beach in the mornings
near her home, or at the boys home where she spent a considerable amount of time.
This paper will further reference earlier research, reading materials, museum and
gallery exhibitions, as well as lectures.
Introduction
My best friend and I often sit around my kitchen table and talk about our
childhoods. Both of us grew up in Central America. She was born in Honduras and I
spent my early childhood in Belize. We talked about picking mangoes, plantains and
coconuts off the trees in the yard. We talked about how sacks once used for flour,
coffee, or sugar were transformed into clothing and passed down to the younger
members of the family or other kids in the community. We reminisced about how our
families would have great meals made from whatever was available in our
Grandmothers’ kitchen.
She told stories of how homes in Honduras were often built with thatched roofs
made from coconut leaves and the walls and floors out of mud. If the property the house
sat on was sold, the family deconstructed the house, moved it, reconstructing it at a new
location. We shared our memories of dresser drawers being used as a type of bassinet
for premature babies, old teapots becoming planters in the yard, dried coconut leaves
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were woven together to create mattresses for the beds, how dried gourds became water
scoopers. In Belize, our drinking water came from huge vats in the yard filled with
rainwater. Walls were neatly decorated with old newspapers and magazines, creating
beautiful mosaics of images and colors. Art of all kind was made with whatever was
available. In other words, almost everything had newly assigned value.
One day, while cleaning my kitchen I was confronted with the size of my trashcan.
The realization that I was consuming much too much caused me to replace it with a
smaller one. Doing so did not negate the preoccupation with trash; instead I began
saving things. There was an accumulation of junk mail, bottles, cans, old clothes,
empty containers, painting rags, files, newspapers, and packaging, in the kitchen and
studio space. Saving these otherwise discarded materials was yet another form of
consumption. I realized that there is a relationship I have with the things that served an
intended purpose in my life: I wondered what memories they held. I begged the
question: has their value diminished after exhausting their original use? The completion
of that arc was the beginning of new examination and transformation. My need to
alleviate waste and deal with my consumption, as well as the conversations with my
friend was a bridge to my work.
Further introspection happened when I decided to go through my home studio
photographing everything I own. Looking at my trash became a deconstruction of self:
an observation of my external genealogy; the same was true for the actual material
items bought. It was important for me to understand if, my belief system about self held
true under such scrutiny. Starting with my bedroom, hallway, second bedroom,
bathroom, livingroom and kitchen, I photographed everything in my closets, dresser
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drawers, cabinets, purse, armoire, as well as on the shelves. Shoes, boots, handbags,
belts, clothing, intimate apparel, artwork, furniture, toiletries, spices, flatware, dishes, I
could go on. However, the items in my kitchen stood out. My kitchen appliances
particularly struck me; there were blenders, food processors, a microwave, and a
Kitchen aid mixer, juicer, toaster, coffee maker and espresso machine.
The process of obtaining these things I cannot recall. However, remembering
that my mother and grandmother were able to function efficiently in the kitchen with way
less appliances was at the forefront of my mind. I understand now that the choices
growing up of what and how we consumed (just as it is in my work) are based on the
complexities of identity: race, culture, economics, class, religion, social structure, politics,
gender and the environment. All the aforementioned can sometimes dictate what an
individual, community; culture or country has access to. According to Strasser, “We buy
things devised to be thrown out after brief use: packaging designed to move goods one
way from factories to consumers, and “disposable” products, used one time to save the
labor of washing or refilling. In addition, vast numbers of us declare clothes and
household goods obsolete owing to changing tastes (4). I agree with Strasser; at times
it’s just that a particular thing has fallen out of fashion. I believe that’s in great part due
to our accessibility to more and more things. There is always some new fashion,
technology, car, appliance, and so forth, that eventually ends up as trash--simply
discarded or easily replaced.
I talk about trash, class, consumption and the politics of race in relationship to my
childhood experiences, my work, and the community I live in. There was an apparent
disconnect. It seems, the connections between the aesthetics of my artwork, my
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childhood memories, and the community I live in did not resonate. Nor, why I might want
to compare a global Black community to Harlem. In Visions of a Liberated Future, Black
Arts Movement Writings, Larry Neal writes: The African-American is inextricably linked
to the worldwide struggles of oppressed peoples against decadent political and
economic systems (133). I attended a talk at the Brooklyn Museum last October.
Contemporary artist Sanford Biggers, actor, musician, poet and hip-hop artist Mos Def,
along with, celebrity chef and owner of the Harlem restaurant Red Rooster Marcus
Samuelsson, were in conversation. During the question and answer period someone
asked Mos Def whether he felt free. His response was something like: until my people:
black people around the world are free, I am not free. No matter who you are; class,
economics, etc. you are not free as long as your people aren’t free. The other two
panelists nodded in agreement.
Realization of the disconnection I spoke of earlier brought me to the question: In
what way does the use of syllogisms support particular belief systems or the universal
affirmatives? These belief systems or arguments are generally based on inaccurate
statements and assumptions leading to conclusions that many people accept as truths.
There is a difference between truth and validity in syllogisms. A syllogism can be true,
but not valid (i.e. make logical sense.) It can also be valid but not true. (Web. 11 Jan
2012)
For instance, the discussion between my friend and I regarding the reuse of
items in our immediate surroundings growing up created immediate assumptions about
our identity. Opinions were formed about us culturally, economically, socially, politically,
environmentally and aesthetically. Thus supporting those disconnects between the
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aesthetic of my work, my childhood experiences, and the community I live in. My lived
experience encompasses my hyphenated identity: Black, American and female of
Belizean Descent, which is often in contrast with the universal lens. In Black Skin White
Masks, Fanon talks about an acculturated society he says:
Ontology does not allow us to understand the being of the black man,
since it ignores the lived experience. For not only must the black man be
black; he must be black in relation to the white man. Some people will
argue that the situation has a double meaning. Not at all. The black man
has no ontological resistance in the eyes of the white man. From one day
to the next, the Blacks have had to deal with two systems of reference.
Their metaphysics, or less pretentiously their customs and the agencies to
which they refer, were abolished because they were in contradiction with a
new civilization that imposed its own (90).
Although in this text Fanon references the Black man, I believe he is referring to the
Diaspora. My further understanding is that he is talking about the politics of race.
Meaning, the presumption or tenet connected to the ideology of race based on
sovereignty.
Contemporary Black American artists such as: Chakaia Booker, Fred Wilson,
Shanique Smith and Nick Cave make art from everyday or discarded materials. They
use old clothing, tires, bric-a-bracs, and so on. There are countless other artists like
Maren Hassinger, Thorton Dial, Bessie Harvey and Vladimir Cybil, as well as those
around the world that make art using everyday objects. In an interview with Brian
McNulty, Myron Beasley, Professor of African Studies at Bates College discusses
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Haitian artists making such choices:
While the world focuses on Haiti's enduring material poverty, Beasley sees
a special kind of wealth in Haitian expressions of art and culture. As an
example, he points to the artists of the Grand Rue: "In an old junkyard in
the center of Port-au-Prince, they make these magnificent sculptures out
of debris and junk that we've dumped in Haiti. On one level you can say,
'Oh how cute, they are making do with what they have.' But on another it's
'Hold on, they are actually making this huge social critique about
consumption, and about how we are treating "non-developed" worlds.'
Melissa often talks about the amount of trash in Haiti, and the lack of
infrastructure to provide adequate sanitation. In her opinion, not only the amount, but
also, the type of waste couldn’t all come from Haiti. She has seen first hand the talent
and creativity of the artist in Jacmel making art from the debris left behind after the
earthquake. Thanks to her I have seen it as well, I now own a piece of art from an artist
in Jacmel. It is signed Gré Ronald Jacmel, Haiti. Just as we made decisions to reuse
materials out of necessity as a child, artists of color globally have always made the
same choices. For instance, due to limited resources vernacular artists created with
materials in their immediate environment. As Lewis stated, there is a southern tradition
of African Americans who created “something from nothing,” . . . . (308).
Harlem is a unique and engaging community filled with contradictions. It has a
strong cultural, religious, social, political and artistic legacy. For the most part its
inhabitants, many born and raised in the community are proud of their history. It is
affectionately called the “Village of Harlem,” and considered the “Black Mecca” by many.
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For over a decade, the community has seen significant changes. Economic
development and/or gentrification have been controversial topics. Economic
development and gentrification are often used interchangeably in the community.
Economic development refers to the rebuilding of infrastructure and the economic
health of a community. This is done through policy making, and may include everything
from environmental sustainability to building human capital.
Gentrification is seen as the displacement of the poor when wealthier, more
affluent people move into a community. Generally, the residents are divided into those
that are in support of the changes and those that are against. Residents that are for the
transformation (new housing developments, business, etc.) see it as revitalization, while
those that are against the changes see it as a redefinition. Revitalization is generally
seen as a good thing because it signifies growth.
It is taking what is already there and enhancing it. However, for others the
redefinition represents change in the cultural landscape of the community as well as
their relationship to it. The businesses they are familiar with disappear, and they inherit
new ones along with new neighbors and condos that alter the aesthetic of the
community. What I gathered through my inquiry is that issues surrounding identity: class,
trash, consumption, economics, religion, culture, politics, race, and gender are steeped
within the discourse.
Even with its distinctive qualities there are international Black communities that
bare comparison to Harlem. Haiti, and its capital, Port-au-Prince, along with its “cultural
capital,” Jacmel is also rich in tradition, religion, culture, politics and artistic legacy. The
people of Haiti are also proud of their history. Haiti was the first independent nation in
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Latin America, and the first freed black republic in the world. At times nationalistic views
conflict with the growth and development of the economy. This is not to say that some
ideas regarding development shouldn’t be met with criticism, just as it should regarding
gentrification in Harlem.
It is not difficult to make a comparison between two places seemingly so distant.
They are both a part of the Diaspora and are rich in cultural, religious and artistic legacy.
But African Americans and Haitians in general share more than that, Pamphile writes:
The linkages between Haitians and African Americans are rooted in
the African motherland. These two peoples are bound by a deep sense of
identity stemming from a shared heritage. Both were uprooted against their
will from the African continent; both endured the journey across the Atlantic
Known as the “Middle Passage”; and both were scattered across the
plantations of North America and West Indies where they experienced,
adapted to, and participated in developing dissimilar if not conflicting cultures.
This study seeks to demonstrate that, in spite of geographical and
linguistic separation, Haitians and African Americans have remained
connected throughout the centuries both by oppression and by a common
struggle for freedom that make the peoples of the black diaspora what they
are today. (Introduction)
The conversations surrounding gentrification and economic development are
complex. The goal is not to choose what is right or wrong, best or worst, but to develop
a better understanding of what it does to the context of any community. We all
participate, and at times benefit from the changes irrespective of our politics.
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To better understand multiple views, I conducted interviews with members of the
Harlem community. I spoke to those that have been here for generations, longtime
residents, or new transplants to the community. Among them were conversations with
my superintendent, executives working and/or living in the neighborhood, and other
professionals. I was also able to draw upon my lived experiences as research material. I
have lived in Central Harlem for twelve years, before that I lived in West Harlem for over
six years. It was important for me to conduct interviews with people who have first hand
experiences with the changes. I did not want to rely solely on data collected from
textbooks, newspapers, etc.
Trash, Class and Consumption
America has grown into a throwaway society built on consumption and
convenience filled with super sized fries, big gulps, value meals and wholesale super
stores. However, this was not always the case. As Strasser suggested, Americans were
once very practical and less wasteful:
Before the twentieth century, most Americans produced little trash. At the
turn of the century packaged goods were becoming popular, but
merchants continued to sell most food and other goods in bulk. Their
customers had habits of reuse that prevailed. . . . Durable items were
passed on to other generations, people of other classes, or stored away
for later use. . . . Broken or worn-out things would be taken back to their
makers or to the handyman for repairs. Items that were not repairable
might be dismantled, their parts reused or sold. . . . (12).
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Certainly this kind of practicality has changed. The interchanging of new ideas,
materials, advancement in technology, urban renewal, the media, and so on has
assisted contemporary culture in creating more trash. These things, designed to make
our lives easier, have produced a wasteful society. In various areas of the city
(particularly lower or midtown Manhattan) you will find food trucks of all kind. I am not
talking about the hot dog carts that are synonymous with New York City. These are
trucks that sell anything from specialty cupcakes and pastries, pizza by the slice,
Caribbean and other ethnic foods that one might typically get at a restaurant. The
containers are usually plastic, styrofoam, aluminum foil or perhaps paper. The obvious
questions are: Where are people disposing of these items? Where are they ending up?
While walking in midtown Manhattan a few weeks ago, I was in the middle of the
block when the light changed. The traffic was at a brief halt when I noticed a yellow cab.
The driver opened his door and threw something out. He dumped all the food containers
and trash in his taxi onto the street while stopped at the light. I was appalled and
couldn’t believe what I witnessed! My learned behaviors of communal living gave me
the context to address him. I insisted he pick everything up. I informed him that every
corner in this city has a trashcan, and there is absolutely no reason to ever throw
garbage in the street. “Practically everything in our daily lives has a fleeting presence.
What does it mean that much, if not most of our ordinary commerce with the world
involves destruction? Does consuming disposable goods differ all that much from
maintaining durable ones?” (Greg Kennedy, Introduction) People irrespective of their
economic standing, or environment can attest to the discarding of trash thereby,
participating in the accumulation of excess waste. However, I would be neglectful if I did
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not acknowledge that there is a difference in trash based on, race, ethnicity, class,
accessibility, economics, as well as environment.
Select neighborhoods all through the five boroughs are saturated with a Bodega
on every corner. This is a corner store that often sells (sometimes inferior) products at
higher prices. However, items that are even less beneficial health wise are sold at much
lower prices. Beer, sodas, candy, cookies, and fruit juices filled with fructose and fat are
cheaply priced. Members of the community often use these stores numerous times a
day. How many wrappers, cans, plastic bottles, containers, straws, etc., do they sell
hourly? How many brown paper bags and plastic bags do they give to their customer’s
daily?
Some form of consumption, and trash affects practically every moment of our
lives. We often tell or convince ourselves that certain buys are out of necessity. For
instance, I need a new cellphone (specifically the latest iPhone), I need a new car, I
need a new pair of shoes, boots, clothing, the lists can go on forever with material wants
and needs. The constant need for material items simply creates more waste.
Consumption is not limited to materials or goods. It is the squandering and depletion of
resources; it is the excessive use of energy sources. Jayne writes:
Consumption is clearly a key area of social life in which tensions and
structures are manifest on an everyday basis. Miles (1998b) describes this
as a ‘consuming paradox’ arguing that consumption is both enabling and
constraining. Stressing the ideological dimension of consumption, Miles
(1998b:70) argues that we play out a lot of the frustrations of
contemporary social life through consumption which gives us some sort of
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control and certainty to our lives, alongside concomitant feeling that
through consumption we can be ourselves’. Moreover, while consumption
has become the dominant organisational focus for our social lives, it also
ensures that consumers are never entirely satisfied, always striving to
consume more (Campbell 1995). (15)
Our social choices are also contributors to trash and consumption. We often
make decisions about what restaurants to eat at, what plays to see, I’ve even witnessed
people making choices about what they drink socially, based on how they want to be
perceived. If we were truly honest with ourselves, how many of us would confess to
buying things we don’t need because it makes us feel a particular way, or we think that
others will perceive us a certain way. In these instances, our external genealogy
supersedes our Internal -- consequentially, constructing a false identity.
Consumerism is plagued by the media, people create false identities and life
styles based on the images they consume watching music videos, reading magazines,
billboards, and other sources of advertisements. We live in global societies where
reality TV, celebrity obsessions, and the notion that bigger is better is the way of life. I
am not sure I totally believe that people are unaware of their constructed identities.
Those that are the least likely in our society to afford such extravagance are usually
creating these falsities. Jayne suggests that:
While this indeed appears to be a pervasive ideology, we must not fall into
the trap of thinking it is a one-way process. Consumers are not just
passive recipients of goods and services; neither can they buy images and
identities off the shelf and adorn them at will. There are power dimensions
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that underlie what, where, and how we consume, and people are at least
partially aware of such discourse of expression and restriction.
Thus while consumers are well adept at endowing things with their
meanings, making consumption a personal signature and actively using
consumption as a resource though which our identities and lifestyles are
played out, there are pervasive limits. This is the ‘consuming paradox’--we
personalised the impersonal. However, while consumption seems to offer
everything, there are powerful economic, social, cultural, and even spatial
restrictions. We can only consume what is on offer, what we can afford (or
what our credit limit can stretch to), and moreover we are constrained by
legal, social and cultural conventions. As such:
Consumer capitalism actively wants consumers to experience what
might be described as a ‘pseudo-sovereignty and maximises his or
her personal freedom within the veneer provided, despite a tacit
acceptance that consumerism is a more powerful beast than any
one individual at any one time. (Miles 1998b: 156) (15).
Photographing my personal belongings triggered, and challenged my notions of
consumerism. The close up images of the appliances in my kitchen began to look like
advertisement. I hadn’t seen myself as a consumer in that sense: some one who was
preoccupied with obtaining consumer goods. I only saw myself as a person that bought
what I needed. The images of my appliances began an inner dialogue; challenging my
wants verses needs. Are my wants, needs, access, and Madison Avenue advertising
intertwined? I thought I knew who I was….
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My habits of consumption, need, want and even access were further challenged
once I visited Artist Maren Hassinger at her home studio for the first time.
Prior to this we’d only been out socially in the neighborhood, going out to dinner,
or to exhibitions, and museums. The visit was two folds; I was there to interview her for
this paper, yet it was social. She lives practically across the street from me in Lenox
Terrace. It is the apartment complex where New York State Congressman Charles B.
Rangel and former New York State Governor David Patterson reside. Her home studio
was minimalistic. She had just a few pieces of furniture, television; there were boxes
stacked, as well as a few things she may have been working on. Although she was
exhausted having just flown in from an exhibition in Los Angeles, we talked for hours.
She said to me, “I don’t need a lot of stuff, artists don’t need stuff.” (Interview)
It was amazing to me, here I was thinking that I’d made certain choices and was
living a certain way. Then I get a dose of reality, I walk into Maren’s space and she is
actually living the way I thought I was, based on need, not want and access. Maren
Hassinger is a sculptor, installation, and performance artist. She has been Director of
the Rinehart School of Sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Art, since 1997.
One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure
Strasser states, what counts as trash depends on who’s counting (3). After all
what may be trash to some is worthwhile and useful and valuable to others.
James Reynolds, a forty something, artist, educator, Central Harlem Resident
and Nashville native has been living in the community since 1990. He has partially
furnished his home with furniture found on the streets of New York City. According to
him, “Sixty percent of his treasures were found in Harlem and forty percent downtown.”
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People in both places may have been throwing out things to purge or upgrade
nevertheless, he finds better stuff uptown than he does downtown. One reason he
believes is that, “People downtown know what they are throwing away and don’t
necessarily care while, people in Harlem do not. They are unaware that they’re throwing
away expensive antiques like the lamps, chairs and the Serapi rug valued at twenty-five
hundred dollars.” James admits that the things he finds in the neighborhood he would
never “just sit out.” His finds are definitely things he would “give to someone else or
resell” as he so often does. (Interview)
James resides in one of the most coveted buildings in the neighborhood, Graham
Court. It sits prominently covering a one-block radius from the corner of 116th to 117th
Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. It is often compared to the famed Dakota where
John Lennon was killed and was built in the 1900s by the Astor family, of the WaldorfAstoria Hotels.
Graham Court features a courtyard with four buildings. Each apartment in each
building is distinctively different; you will not find two apartments that are alike. The
higher up you live the larger the apartments. James’ apartment is complete with a foyer,
two bedrooms, mosaic and hardwood floors, high ceilings, beautiful molding, one and a
half baths, two fireplaces (non working but amazing detail), and maid’s quarters. One of
the most interesting details about the apartments is the size and shape of the closets.
They are very tiny and generally more, oblong and flush closer to the wall. They
contained a few hooks evenly spaced that jute out from the wall, which faces you when
you open the closet. Through deductive reasoning I concluded that in the 1900s people
were much smaller, and had way less clothing, hence the size of the closets.
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His home is pictured perfect, reminiscent of something out of Better Homes and
Gardens magazine. Again, he has decorated his space with things he has found around
the city and Harlem. The chairs in his living room are found pieces. He would comb the
fabric stores in the city looking for great deals. Often times, I am on the excursions with
him going in and out of stores as we eat our way through the city!
We have found some of the most amazing embroidered fabrics on sale. The last
stop in the process is heading over to Mr. Scotty’s, an antique and upholstery shop
located on Hancock Place and 124th Street. Mr. Scotty has been in business for over
forty-five years at the same location, and has been reupholstering James’ finds for at
least seventeen years. One of my favorite memories of his unexpected treasure hunts
was one day while riding his bike to my house speeding down 130th Street he noticed a
pair of antique lamps someone put out in the trash. He picked them up tucked them
under his arms and rode with them all the ways back down Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.
to 116th Street home. I do also enjoy the occasion when he finds beautiful pieces of
natural wood and brings them to me. They become wonderful additions to my art
making!
Oliver Ford is the superintendent of my building and street, as well as several
other blocks in the area. He has direct contact with the trash and has been in the
Central Harlem community since 1999. Among his responsibility is sorting, which means
separating the regular trash from the recycling (paper, bottles, cans, plastics and the
likes) for all the brownstones and apartment buildings on the street. He carefully puts
everything in the proper bags before setting it in front of the buildings several times a
week. He only does this the night before trash pickup. He says, “If I do it any earlier I
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run the risk of folks picking through the garbage looking for anything they think they can
sell.” Over the years he has become very good at determining whose trash he is sorting.
By going through each bag, he is able to “tell which apartment or brownstone the
garbage came from.”
After all these years he has become knowledgeable about each of the tenants
consumption habits. He also credits this in part to his military and intelligence training.
He proudly says, “Agents are taught to find out everything they can about who a person
is by rummaging through their trash.” Looking into a person’s garbage may reveal their
gender, ethnicity, means, etc. Trash reveals important and very private information
about a person. In sorting the trash he has noticed many interesting changes in the
community. “Since I have been here doing this I have seen the changes in the garbage.
For one thing the newcomers do not cook, there are always empty take out containers,
and they buy very expensive European beer and wine.” He had this to say when I asked
what other changes he noticed: “I can tell that there are more Latinos in Central Harlem.
There are more olives and other foods they eat like rice and beans in the garbage. I
know it is not from black folks because usually their garbage has the typical chicken,
mac and cheese collard greens, you know.” (Interview)
Oliver often works for a few of the celebrities that have bought homes on the
block. To protect their privacy, he takes some precautions. He shields their identity by
double bagging the trash, or mixing it with everyone else’s. In return for his attention,
they are apt to reward him with expensive gifts, mostly things they “no longer want.” He
has received everything from very expensive clothing like a dress as he puts it, “I can’t
wear, to cash.” However, the things they throw out are at times almost new, hardly used.
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As Strasser says, the wealthy can afford to be wasteful but, people today throwaway
perfectly good stuff all the time (9).
Gentrification, Consumption, and Identity
A Brief History
It is difficult to be a member of such a community and not know its narrative and
understand the complexities that live within. This is particularly true if you once attended
high school in West Harlem, live five blocks down from the Schomburg Center for
Research in Black Culture, five blocks up from the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the
Apollo Theatre on 125th Street, or if you are a member of the Abyssinian Baptist Church
(founded in New York City in 1808 and erected in Harlem in 1923), or you have lived in
West and Central Harlem for over fifteen years. It is important to note that Harlem is
divided into three areas West Harlem, Central Harlem and East Harlem.
Historically Harlem has been a place of transition. In the mid 1600s the Dutch
bought Harlem from the original inhabitants. It was first named Nieuw Haarlem after a
Dutch City, eventually it was renamed Harlem by British immigrants. A path was built
from lower Manhattan to the southern tip of Harlem by Black laborers for accessibility.
At one time the homes were farmland estates used as secondary residents for the more
affluent residents of lower Manhattan. They made their way up north either by horse
and carriage or steamboat. In the mid to late 1800s things began to change. First the
Irish arrived, and then, with the subsequent construction of the railways came the Jews,
Italians, and Latinos. Once the railways were built leading from lower Manhattan to
Harlem it altered the prospects of the community. According to Maurrasse:
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As a result, real estate developers built extensively and landlords rapidly
bought property. . . . Some of the greatest anticipation was in West
Harlem, which was intended for wealthier people. Therefore, luxury
housing, with elevators, maids' rooms, and butlers' pantries, was
constructed. For example, William Waldorf Astor built an apartment house
on Seventh Avenue, which cost $500,000-all part-and-parcel of what was
to become "the loveliest Negro ghetto in the world.”(18)
Even though there were some blacks in Harlem in the late 1800s, the influx from
the South during the Great Migration did not begin until the early 1900s. Around that
time (just before the “Harlem Renaissance”) is when White people started to leave the
community. “During the 1920s and ‘30s Harlem established itself as a predominately
black-middle class neighborhood and bustling center for African-American creativity.
The era known as the Harlem Renaissance was in full bloom, and nowhere else in
America could so many gifted, young blacks be found. In an area of just a few square
miles, artists, writers, poets, musicians, singers, actors, and dancers all lived and
worked together creating one of the most incredible cultural and literary explosions ever
to hit the United States” (Biondi & Haskins 63).
This is an infectious community that makes you want to know, and care about its
past, present and future. Many who live in the community have a great sense of pride,
are very protective, and can recite some part (if not all) of its rich history at least dating
back to the “Harlem Renaissance.” According to David J. Maurrasse, some
understanding of the state of Harlem -- why it's changing, and where it's headed -- can
be found through the voices of Harlem's longtime residents. They have lived through the
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area's decline and are now witnessing its apparent, yet debatable, resurgence (8).
When people are resistant to change they often become nostalgic, they forget
the bad times. Curtis Archer was a student at Columbia University when he moved to
West Harlem in 1980. He described it as a “Foreboding place.” “Crime was high and the
crack epidemic had taken over by 1985. Columbia University wouldn’t even let me list
my West Harlem apartment, and they made sure to tell all the incoming students to stay
on the number 1 train going uptown. If they took the 2 train they would end up in Central
Harlem, at the time this was not a good thing.” He still lives in the community, although
now in Central Harlem and works in walking distance from home. He is the President of
an agency that is part of the state government, the Harlem Community Development
Corporation. The main function of the agency is to do four things: The planning aspect
helps community groups with their needs. For instance, if they are looking for
commercial space they will assist them. The weatherization section of the agency
provides assistance to residential landlords that have below medium income tenants.
They award grant money for boilers, lighting roofing, etc. The residential and the
commercial development areas assist new business owners and developers coming to
the community. They ensure the transition to the community is as smooth as possible.
Considering the work he does, I asked Curtis how has the community changed?
“Harlem was always a bedroom community not a commercial Mecca. Everyone keeps
comparing what’s going on now to the “Harlem Renaissance” but it’s not the same, that
was driven by arts and culture. What’s happening now is driven by real-estate,
everything now is so high but it is still cheaper than south of 96 Street.”
For many years there were distressed neighborhoods in Harlem populated with
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abandoned buildings and vacant lots covered with garbage. In recent times that has
changed, there virtually no empty lots. Most vacant buildings have signs up indicating
that work will be starting on the premises. According to Curtis, “At onetime the city
owned 65% of the vacant lots and abandoned buildings in Harlem. Central Harlem is so
saturated right now it is difficult to acquire space. Hunter College was planning
expansion to Central Harlem, but there is no space, so they will move to East Harlem
instead.” (Interview)
Harlem is Changing
A little over a year ago, Lenox Avenue looked very different. There was not much
happening north of 125th Street. The restaurants, lounges and cafes were all located
further down Lenox between 118th Street and 120th Street. In fact, I hardly ever saw
my friends that live south of 125th Street beyond that point. The reason for the shift is
the number of new bars, restaurants and cafes that have sprung up. Any evening of the
week now that area of Lenox Avenue is jumping, but this is especially true on a Friday
and/or Saturday night. At times I feel as though I am no longer in my neighborhood, in a
good way.
A stream of outdoor seating with diners line the sidewalks as the hustle and
bustle of the neighborhood continues. This happens through out the day. When exiting
the subway at the corner of 125th Street and Lenox, you are immediately stimulated by
the energy on the avenue. There’s this interesting dynamic between the old and the
new. One can hardly tell which is the backdrop. African street vendors selling their
wares: incense, oils, sunglasses and T-shirts. Fruit stands, food carts and the Dollar
store. The storeowner rents the space in front to an African vendor selling everything
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from hats, bags, suitcases and socks.
Walking up the Avenue, you might run into Mr. Joseph. He is a joyful, kind
seventy-year old known as The Chalk Man. When the weather permits he leaves
inspirational passages, poems, or a few words written with colored chalk on the
sidewalk. One of his tag lines is: Learn to Live, Live to Learn. I asked him once, why he
wrote on the sidewalk, he said: “My messages are meant to inspire and lift the spirit of
the community, they’re a gift from God through me. I don’t even know what I’m going to
write, it just happens.”
ChaqChaq played his Casio on the Avenue between 126th and 127th Street. He
sat in the shade under a tree playing music all day. He greeted everyone that walked by
with a hello, good morning or afternoon. One morning, while strolling down Lenox I
noticed from a distance he wasn’t there. As I got closer to his spot, I saw a sign. It was
posted on the tree he sat under, it read: RIP ChaqChaq The Piano Man. It was a notice
informing all those he greeted daily that he’d passed on. I was reminded of stories
Melissa told me of seeing black banners streamed around Jacmel. She finally asked
what they meant; she was told it is hung in memory of someone who’d recently died.
One banner she saw said Big Chocolate Maker, which probably meant the person made
chocolate for a living. I didn’t know Chachaq more than a nod, or good morning, or
afternoon. I don’t know if he had family, but I do know he left an imprint on Lenox
Avenue.
A few steps down from where he sat drummers have appeared. We have already
started the ritual of communicating with slight gazes, nods and smiles. Part of the charm
of living here is that people speak to you, on the street, in the corner stores, at the
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laundry mat and so forth. It is one of the few places in the city I know of where you are
greeted with a smile, and a good morning, afternoon or evening. People look out for you.
It is the kind of place; with all of its complexities and issues you can’t wait to get back to.
Many of my friends, particularly black males that have lived in several areas of
Manhattan say once they’ve moved here, “it finally feel’s like home.” It has the charm of
a small town in a large city. As I’ve stated it is an infectious place, you can’t help but fall
in love with.
However, that is not always the case when people not really familiar with the
culture move uptown form downtown. They are not accustomed to living in a community
where people greet each other, this is just one of the complaints from the people who
have been living here. Some of the new comers appear rude, distant and disconnected
from the community and its history.
Marcus Garvey Park located between Fifth and Madison Avenue, from 124th to
120th Street is where African drummers have been playing on Saturday evenings for
decades. They have always seen it as a place where people from the Diaspora gather
in a communal and spiritual way. The drums represent a connectedness to their
ancestry. Gentrifiers in that area didn’t see it that way, it resulted in heated community
board meetings, discussions, unwanted press, and the drummers being moved twice.
People were angry and it was the talk of the neighborhood. The situation further created
a divide between the new comers and the longtime residents. It was eventually resolved
and there is a sign in the park where they play that says, Drummers Circle.
I asked Maren how she felt about living in the neighborhood, she said: Walking
down the street you overhear strange and interesting conversations. The other thing is, I
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often feel like I am being chased by trash. I like being in a community with other black
people, but I don’t always like how they treat me. They think I’m white. (Interview)
There are a lot of people that have moved to Harlem that are not necessarily
wealthy, irrespective of race. They may share similar interest, such as education, life
style, and may be of other ethnicities. However, they are still seen as gentrifiers from an
economic perspective. There are all these assumptions made based on perceived
differences.
Gentrification and/or Economic Development
Danni Tyson is a real estate agent. She is also a member of Community Board
10. The function of the board is to ensure that city services are accessible and
responsive to residents, organizations, businesses and institutions of Central Harlem.
By hosting regular meetings open to the public, Community Board 10 acts as a bridge
for communicating events, addressing local concerns and processing municipal
applications of various sorts. The Community Board also plays an important advisory
role in planning, land use, zoning and the City budget. Danni states:
Basically, community board 10 is like a watchdog. We make sure that new
businesses coming in are hiring people from the neighborhood. There are
so many services in the area that people don’t utilize. My daughter often
teases me about talking to people in the street everywhere I go, this is
because I want them to know what’s available to them. A lot of people are
angry about what’s happening, they hate the word gentrification; they think
it’s an ugly word. In 1987 when I first moved into Graham Court, one of my
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neighbors told me to go back where I came from. (Interview)
Gentrification of a community changes its neighborhoods, as well as the city it’s
in. It’s commonly believed that the poor and working class inhabitants of said
community is displaced when wealthier, better educated people move in, are able to
rent at higher rates, as well as acquire property (thus paying higher property taxes). Old
and/or abandoned buildings are developed into luxury condominiums. In addition, new
businesses surface replacing neighborhood staples. These new shops, banks,
restaurants, cafes, art galleries and so are designed to cater to the new residents.
Often times, revitalization is subsidized by financial incentives given to private or
non-profit real estate developers, first time homebuyers, and new businesses through
the local government. These financial incentives are designed to help improve the
infrastructure as the community is undergoing redevelopment. However, the downside
to revitalization is of course the rising rents, and increased property taxes, which makes
it impossible for some like the elderly to remain in the community. This has been the
ongoing push pull regarding gentrification in Harlem. It is undeniable that this type of
economic insurgence benefits some at the expense of others.
For instance, the gentrification of a community like Harlem has a citywide impact,
economically, culturally and politically. Harlem is a tourist destination just as any other
New York City attraction. On any given day all year round there are tour buses moving
through our neighborhoods. There are cultural institutions such as: The Studio Museum
of Harlem, Apollo Theater and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, not
to mention the historical black churches like Abyssinian and Canaan Baptist Churches.
Jayne further cites Miles:
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It is clear that Miles’s (1998a) contention that to the individual,
consumption is both enabling (in terms of personal fulfillment and
construction of sovereignty) and constraining (as it plays an ideological
role in constructing lives) can equally be applicable to cities. This
‘consuming paradox’ suggests that cities are not helpless pawns reacting
to global processes. However, their reactions are both related to
sedimented local and regional political, economic, physical and social
opportunities and condition, and highly relational in terms of the activities
of other cities.
For example, increasing global interdependence has ensured that
the most economically successful cities are those being reconstructed and
sold as centres not of production but of consumption. (16)
This statement rings especially true as I relate it to Harlem. I often hear the
gentrification of the community referred to as the New Renaissance. However, I do not
think of it so much as cultural or artistic renaissance as much I do an economic one.
Savona Bailey Mcclain is the founder of an arts organization called West Harlem Art
Fund and has also sat on Community Board 9 in West Harlem. She does not view the
changes here as a Renaissance, but as a “food revolution.”
She believes its time for change, it is long overdue. It’s time for the older folks in
the neighborhood to let go and allow the younger generation to step up. The
“Renaissance has happened,” she said; let’s start a new legacy. Savona strongly feels:
It’s a Revolution verses a Renaissance, generations are battling over the future of the
community. Seniors and some of the older politicians don’t want to see change. Food is
Smith 32
what’s driving the economy up here. (Interview)
I think of Harlem as being sold as a community for consumption especially when
I think of new restaurants like Red Rooster. A thriving business such as this with
celebrity chef, Marcus Samuelson, born to Ethiopian parents and raised in Sweden by
his adoptive parents creates a trickle down effect of consumption. It is a celebrity
destination, as well as a neighborhood haunt. It was the location of President Obama’s
$30,000 a plate fundraising dinner in March 2011.
Corner Social, Chez Lucienne, The Cove Lounge, Astor Row Café, Lenox Coffee
and Jacob a by the pound restaurant are a few of the new places opened on, or off of
Lenox Avenue between 125th and 130th Streets.
The infamous Sylvia’s Soul Food Restaurant has been a constant on Lenox
Avenue since 1962. She has sustained her business through the decline of the
community -- directly into the resurgence. As long as I can remember, she’s had a
steady flow of tour buses with visitors from around the world. President Clinton has
been known to dine there when he is in Harlem, especially prior to his heart surgeries.
On a Sunday afternoon groups of people line the sidewalk waiting to be seated for
brunch. She has kept up with her competitors by, expanding into real estate, adding on
to the restaurant, and offering outdoor seating to her clientele. I’ve also seen her
expansion on the shelves of national supermarkets. Her brand also has a line of canned
goods, and condiments.
Politics, Race and Identity
Show me your birth certificate? Is he really an American? Prove it! He is a
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Muslim! These are just a few of the sound bites I have heard in the media since Barack
Obama was elected President of the United States on November 4, 2008. I could not
help but wonder if this would be the case if he were not partially of African descent. The
politics of race has taken an ugly turn under the guise of democracy and freedom of
speech. In The New Politics of Race: Globalism, Difference, Justice, Winant states:
Race is fundamental in modern politics. Race is situated at the
crossroads of identity and social structure, where, difference frames
inequality, and where political processes operate with a
comprehensiveness that ranges from the world historical to the
intrapsychic, always flexible and fungible, yet also always present since
the inception of the “modern world-system” (c. 1500CE), the system of
racial classification has been invoked for half a millennium in the service
both of domination and resistance.
Since the rise of Europe and the dawn of the capitalist era, there
has been continuous tendency, arguably a necessity, to organize and
signify, domination along the lines of corporeality/”phenotype.” And since
there is no domination without resistance, across half a millennium race
has become a trope for unfinished agendas of egalitarianism,
democratization, and cultural pluralism. Not only was the concept of race
born with modernity, not only was the meaning of race preoccupation of
the Enlightenment, but the racial practices of the modern age--slavery and
imperial conquest, as well as abolitionism and anticolonialism---shaped all
the social structures we take for granted today. The accumulation of
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capital, the organization of the labor process, the construction of the
modern nation-state, the rise of movements for popular sovereignty, and
our very understandings of cultural and personal identity were all
fashioned in the global workshop that is modern history. (Introduction)
In the forward of Who’s Afraid of Post- Blackness, Michael Eric Dyson writes:
“When it comes to defending Barak against the charge that he’s not
black enough, I tell folk, ‘Well, I’ve known him for over fifteen years, and
what I’ve noticed is that he’s proud of his race, but that doesn’t capture the
range of his identity. He’s rooted in, but not restricted by, his blackness.’”
(xi)
Last February at the Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture, I
attended a debate with Touré and Schomburg Director Khalih Gibran Muhammed.
Dorian Warren moderated it; he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political
Science and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. The
gist of the debate was their opposing ideas about whether embracing “post-blackness”
limits or increases individual freedom. I must admit I’ve been ambivalent surrounding
this discourse. I have been trying to determine whether or not it’s the terminology or
ideology itself I am having trouble with. Last February is when I first heard Dyson’s
quote. During the Debate Touré cited it orally. At the time he did the conversation was
about Blackness being a historical construct or narrative.
My question is who is constructing and/or creating the narrative? In the Mid to
late 1970s there was a television show on a major American network called Good
Times. The show was set in a housing project in the ghettoes of Chicago. It was about
Smith 35
the Evans family both parents, a daughter and two sons all lived in a two-bedroom
apartment. At the time this was a very popular sitcom, I was a kid growing up in the
South Bronx. I recall us sitting down as a family week after week to watch this family
suffer through one hardship after the next. They dealt with drug, alcohol, sexual, child
abuse; and every other abuse you can think of, unemployment, gangs; it was one
drama, after the next all in a comedic fashion. So all you saw was this poor, happy,
tragic family shucking and jiving.
I understood even then it wasn’t necessarily a real portrayal of black life in the
ghetto, at least not for me. I didn’t know anyone that did a lot of the things, nor had most
of the issues they had. With all of that said, there was an interesting contrast to the
show. It was probably one of the first times on television I’d seen a black person doing
something artistic that didn’t involve singing, dancing, etc. The oldest son JJ was a
painter. It was pre Cosby show era so it was the first time we saw a black visual artist’s
on TV. The artist Ernie Barnes did most of the work shown. His paintings are of
elongated figures, bright colors that sort of move across the canvas. His paintings
reflect his views of black life.
During the debate I began thinking about all of this. If I understand Postblackness accordingly: Was I post-black as a child? Since, I did not subscribe to the
notion that all black people were struggling and living in the projects. Were JJ’s parents
post-black because they supported and wanted their son to be an artist? And, he still
lived at home. I am mentoring a young man; he’s an artist of Haitian Descent. His
biggest struggle at the moment is his lack of parental support. Were James and Florida
Evans living outside or redefining the black construct?
Smith 36
I was raised in such a way that even when there were news stories and such
about the ills of the ghetto, I never equated it to where I live. In fact, I really had no idea
I lived in the ghetto, impoverished South Bronx. When the early Rappers first hit the
scene in the late 70s and early 80s like: Lovebug Starski, Kurtis Blow, Grand Master
Flash and the Furious Five: Melle Mel, Kid Creole, Cowboy, Raheim and Scorpio the
music was about the poverty and urban decay in the south Bronx at the time. I just
didn’t know it. I was actually about twenty-one before: a. I figured out I lived in that
South Bronx, and b. We were “poor.”
Connecting Artistic Practice to Research
I selected the following artists to explore for this research project: Nick Cave,
Fred Wilson, Shinique Smith, Chakiaia Booker, David Hammons, Huma Bhaba, and
Vernacular art. The initial interest was from an aesthetic perspective and less of a
theoretical one. Understanding their use of everyday materials was the driving force. I
wanted to know how they created structures, and what methods they used to connect
the objects. Each of them are working with unconventional materials. They share the
ability to connect things that would have no real significance alone but collectively they
transform into magnificent organic forms. Thus reassigning value to each object. The
idea of reassigned value resonated with me immediately as my current work is made
with the waste I accumulate, and other objects I live with.
As stated earlier my initial attraction to these artists was not based on their
theoretical approach but on their aesthetic practices. However, looking deeper into this,
I have concluded that although that was true, the aesthetic connection to the artists
Smith 37
guided me to creating my own theoretical thread between them. In other words, it was
not necessary for me to center on the artists’ individual intent. For the purposes of my
research, practice, and as an observer of these particular artists I have made a
connection between them that is relevant. The contemporary artists mentioned all have
a commonality; their art gives voice to cultural context. As individual artists they
uniquely explore the necessities that live within a cultures context and reality. They give
aesthetic voice to identity: race, culture, economics, class, religion, social structure,
politics, gender and the environment.
For the purposes of this paper I will focus on four of the artists previously
mentioned: Chakaia Booker, Fred Wilson, Shinique Smith, and Nick Cave. Chakaia
Booker is a tall striking African American woman with a monumental presence. Her
street attire is reflective of her artistic expression. She is always layered with overalls,
painting shirts, and a headdress she creates with fabric, and I believe sometimes
clothing. She becomes to the observer a moving sculpture, a work of art to behold.
Whenever I am with her, whether at an exhibition, running into her on the streets of
Harlem or lower Manhattan people stare or ask questions. The most frequent question
is about her headdress. Is that art? She replies it is a headdress paying homage to
headdresses worn on the continent of Africa.
In African American Art and Artists, Samella Lewis writes the following:
An innovative artist specializing in sculpture made principally from used
automobile and bicycle tires, she says that she is “a narrative
environmental sculptor whose work acknowledges the struggles and the
victories in human aspirations and involvement. My art focuses on social
Smith 38
and cultural issues, on being female, and on the creative diversity of found
objects which are metamorphosed into works of art. The work expresses
my observation of life.” (308)
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Chakaia’s work at numerous museum exhibitions in New
York City. The most recent was at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City.
Along with Fred Wilson, and Nick Cave, Chakaia was in the exhibition entitled, “The
Global Africa Project.”
Fred Wilson creates his installations using every day objects. Often times they
are a myriad of broken cups, plates, figurines, saucers, replicas of historic busts,
pitchers, and so on. These objects are seemingly strewed about -- yet are all arranged
as though he is trying to send the viewer a cryptic message. Howard Dodson has
written:
His aesthetic sensibility and sociopolitical agenda, however, extend
beyond the parameters of mere process. It is evident that Wilson is as
much concerned with product, content, and audience as with the
instruments of intellectual systems. For him what is important is the ability
to create paradigms in which the meaning is the message (580).
Through his aesthetic storytelling Wilson invites his viewer to examine historical
context in relationship to their own identity and life experience. According to Dodson,
Wilson’s life experiences and interests is what led him to present art objects in a fashion
opposed to Western traditions (580).
In the Contemporary Art Gallery at the Brooklyn Museum sits Mitumba Deity, by
Shinique Smith and Soundsuit, by Nick Cave. Mitumba Deity, speaks to the global
Smith 39
economy through the journey of second hand clothing. It is a floor sculpture made from
old clothing once belonging to the artist and her friends. It is a mound constructed with
bundles of clothing and stuffed animals tied together with twine creating a mosaic of
color, contrast, texture, and patterns. Soundsuit, is an upright mannequin dressed in a
red and black beaded knit jumper. It is adorned from the waist up, reaching way above
the head, covering the face with fake flowers. As you enter the space in the gallery you
are immediately confronted with it.
As I reflect on seeing these two works at the Brooklyn Museum I am reminded of
something Samella Lewis wrote. She states that Chakaia Booker’s art form profoundly
recalls the southern tradition of African Americans, who created “something from
nothing,” who used, discarded materials, transforming them into innovative and
significant works of art (308). That statement can apply to any of the artists I have
spoken about.
My Artistic Journey
In retrospect, the genesis of my current artistic expression happened quite some
time ago. The initial seeds planted as a mere child growing up in Belize and the South
Bronx, and in most recent years living and working as an artist in my beloved Harlem.
Before 2007, I was solely an abstract expressionist artist working in various
mediums: oil, acrylic, watercolor and gouache paint, as well as graphite, pastels,
charcoal and so on. It was around then that I first realized I was able to make threedimensional objects. Paula Coleman, a New York City gallery owner and dealer was
about to curate a functional art show in Harlem. At the time, her gallery was located at
116th Street and Adam Clayton Boulevard. She asked if I would paint a piece of
Smith 40
furniture for the exhibition. She explained that she had found some pieces of furniture
around the neighborhood, and invited me down to the gallery to pick through her finds.
One of the choices I remember was an old, sort of antique wooden table. After
reviewing what was available, my response was: no but, I will make you something. Of
course I’d never made anything three-dimensional before at least not since high school,
and certainly not furniture. Although the dealer requested one table, I ended up
presenting her with two.
One is a vertical four-sided rectangular shape with a fourteen by fourteen
squared top made out of wood. It is painted on all four sides as well as the top, which
means that each panel has a different painting. I wanted the table to rotate so I mounted
it onto a lazy Suzan on my own. The other is constructed with shelves once used on my
walls in my home studio. The shelves are put together in an asymmetrical fashion to
create the base. The top is a round wooden piece I bought. Each piece is also
individually painted. Unlike the first table I mentioned, I figured out the hardware, design
and construction on my own. It was the first time ever exhibiting work of this nature and
both pieces sold immediately the night of the opening.
Some time later Paula called again about another functional art exhibition, this
time, it was to be lighting. Again, I was asked to paint something, perhaps a lampshade.
Naturally I declined, offering to make a light fixture instead. I went to the hardware store
and bought everything I thought I may need, then figured out the wiring and electrical
components. The only thing left was deciding what materials to use. Once more, I
turned to the unused shelving lying around my home studio, and found little scraps of
wood as well to construct my light fixture. Shortly after, another dealer who bought one
Smith 41
of the tables, commissioned me to create a desk for an art fair, the National Black Fine
Art Show in New York City. Certainly, I was a bit nervous, as I’d never made a desk
before. Then I thought people do this everyday! How hard could it be? The design,
construction and the functionality of the desk were a success.
With a sketch in hand; a design of the desk, and a little fear I forged ahead,
intending to cut the birch wood using the plan I created as a guide. However, for some
reason I was unable to move forward. I could not cut the wood; it was as though I was
at a stand still. Creating from a planned or sketched out idea is not how I work as a
painter; realizing that the side tables as well as lamp are organic forms, born from idea
to making. The jigsaw became my paintbrush and the wood my canvas. The
spontaneous motion of my hand and jigsaw created a uniquely organic form. Right
about this time I’d been feeling a little stagnant about my work. It felt as though I was
painting what my clients, dealers, and galleries expected of me. These feelings were
new, unexpected as well as frightening.
Practice to Research
Do what you can do as an artist; learn to contextualize your work with text. I
make work about nature or the abstract. It doesn’t fall in the area of only a black woman
can make this. But my heritage is in direct relation to who I am. No body can make
anything without they’re past speaking through their medium.
~Maren Hassinger
I make sculptural assemblages that investigate the complexities of identity and its
relationship to consumption. In my research I sought to explore the effects of
gentrification on the individual and community as it relates to trash, class, consumption
Smith 42
and the politics of race.
I use materials in my immediate surroundings to make art. The items I use are
things that would ordinarily end up in the trash. My sculptural assemblages are not
limited to one particular material as I am using what I have. They are multi-textured and
layered with cloth, clothing, hangers, wires, strings, cardboard, dirt, wax and so forth.
The assemblages consist of wall hangings, reliefs and stand alone sculptures. My
process is at once organic and incremental. Even as a painter I was not the type of
artist that created from a planned paradigm. My forms and shapes are based on the
sum of my lived experiences culturally, spiritually and socially.
My approach and process is to allow things to unfold. This creates individual
pieces that work in tandem, allowing dialogue between the works of art and the viewer.
As such, I am able to exhibit current and past works together, this includes my paintings.
I’ve done this successfully in several solo exhibition Syllogisms, at RFA Gallery in
Harlem last summer, and recently in Surface and Soul at Piedmont Arts, in Martinsville,
Virginia. For me to approach a work of art from a planned or sketched out perspectives
usually result in a piece that is contrived and not representational of my aesthetic.
Which is connected to my ancestry.
Since I began my research I started painting again. It had been a few years since
I’d done any work on canvas. My research is about gentrification, development, newly
assigned value, sustainability and communal living. The sculptural work is a metaphor
for all those things. I guess in a way my colorful abstractions were as well.
The new paintings are in black and white with hidden dots of color randomly
placed throughout the canvas. The background is mostly white, with overlays, of thick
Smith 43
black paint. I use a palette knife to create a mix of broad, short, quick frenetic movement.
This year my project advisor Colin Chase took me to task about sketching daily.
This was difficult for me; I have a hard time working that way, sketching or journaling.
I decided I would use brown butcher paper in a small corner of my apartment behind my
front door to create three-dimensional sketches. I was taking the more formal ideas of
sketching on a two-dimensional surface and applying that to my daily practice. Through
this process there was a constant dialogue between the materials, the use of space,
form, line, contrast, layering as well as composition.
Initially, I was prompted by a client’s request. He visited my website and saw a
few black and white oils I’d done on paper some time ago. He commissioned a piece,
and the first painting from the new series Ma, was born. Ma, is the Japanese term for
space, or gap, sort of being in between, not exactly a physical space but a conscious
one. I realized the ways in which I dealt with form, space, and composition in the paper
sketches were all in this new body of work. So far, I’ve done eight paintings in various
sizes, the largest is 50 x 72” and the smallest is 30 x 12 “.
I feel as though I have come full circle through this process. When I began my
research I was off canvas. I have also done some work on unstretched canvas. These
pieces are not on stretcher bars. The idea is to allow them to have breadth wherever
they’re hung. Each time a piece is installed it will be done specifically for the space.
I think the new work is so appropriate for my research. If we would allow
ourselves some times to be still and live in that space between perhaps as a global
society we could find solutions to things in a more organic way. Reconstruction and
newly assigned value is what resonates when I think of the unstretched canvas work. I
Smith 44
am back to painting and I am excited about the work. My research, daily sketches and
critiques, has allowed me to explore different ways of documenting my process, as well
as using technology as part of my exhibitions.
Closing thoughts
Classism, waste, consumption, politics and race, each of us has an interpersonal,
personal and/or conflicting relationship with each of the above. These relationships are
usually based on belief systems and a set of reasoning that has been imprinted in us
culturally, socially and economically. For instance, are our responses to gentrification
and/or economic development (pro or con) based on real or imagined experiences? Do
we have first hand knowledge, or are they rooted in a set of constructed arguments
based on political motivation, race, economics and so on? At times, it is difficult to
differentiate between universal truths and individual lived experiences, particularly when
our identities are intertwined with these beliefs.
The bodegas in Chelsea, the Village, and Soho, New York are aesthetically
different than the ones you see uptown, or anywhere else in the outer boroughs for that
matter. They’re a little more deli like complete with fresh flowers, fruit, gourmet coffee,
and pastries. The bodegas on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. south of 125th Street are all
getting a facelift. They are being redesigned to mimic the ones downtown. Of course
this is being done for the newer residents. It’s like a slap in the face to the residents that
have been here. You are essentially saying we didn’t value you. It is the equivalent of
feeding one-person table scraps and the other a gourmet meal. This is just one example
of the many psychological assault on a person’s existence in a revitalized community.
Smith 45
For many, it’s just another one of those get over it type dismissals. However, it’s
difficult to do that when often there is no time for a wound to heal before another is
gashed upon you. I’ve read countless books, attended a cluster of talks, lectures, and
exhibitions, I’ve had conversations surrounding these issues at social events, conducted
interviews, watched videos. Yet I still leave this discourse with these questions:
What’s the alternative to gentrification, do we leave communities in distress on a path to
self-destruct? How do we find a space for empathy in this discourse? What is your
trash?
Smith 46
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