I decided to focus on the Adrian Piper “Decide Who You Are, Anita Hill” artwork. It stuck out to me the most out of all the rest. The initial artwork shows a bunch of words above a picture of a young Anita Hill. The rhetorical properties relate to its meaning because the words on the picture say things such as “Don’t push it”, “Nothing’s going on”, “You’ll get over it”. Upon further research, I read that these were words said to people during the #metoo movement. Which was a time when victims of sexual assault and harassment came forward with their experiences. These words were said to them that just invalidated them. These words of invalidation were in red and I think that was meant to emphasize how often these victims don’t have much of a support system and are told that they’re overreacting and to just move on. This text resonates with social and political concerns of the present because these days, people speak out about their experiences. I feel like this artwork is just a reminder of the past and how people who actually spoke out were treated back then. Even today, some people’s experiences are still being invalidated. The conclusion that I can draw from this text is that art is usually a reminder of the past. It also can be used as a conversation starter, especially for important topics. One impact it has on political and social concerns is that it can inspire people to speak out about problems like this.
4 thoughts on “Blog 5- Awa Diawara”
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I really enjoyed your conclusion , I find it both very truthful and powerful that art is usually a reminder of the past but also could be a conversation started for important topics. I could very much agree with that because I have done it in the past.
I agree with you as you wrote on how the red may symbolize emphasis on the word choices made by people who try to invalidate people who have gone through sexual assault and harassment. This may also be supported as the words are written exclusively in capitalization. It can be that Piper wanted to bring a lot of attention to the word choices used.
I agreed with you when you mentioned that it could inspire others to speak up. This art piece serves as a piece of courage to many viewers. Many might find themselves in the same situation where they. You might be afraid to speak up, but just knowing that other people like you might feel safer.
I completely agree with your point that “art is usually a reminder of the past.” As you’ve mentioned, artworks can serve as a representation of the political and social concerns of that time. While it exposes us to the harsh reality of society, just as you’ve stated, it can also act as empowerment to “inspire people to speak out about problems.”