The Concerned soul worries about the conditions of others and gets involved
Explore the works below. Before expanding the text, think to yourself:
What do you see?
What do you feel?
What might it be addressing?
What questions do you have?
Do you like it? Why or why not?
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This is the photo series Flint is Family (2016-2017) by LaToya Ruby Frazier. This photo series focus on a woman and her family living in Flint, Michigan during the water crisis affecting the low income, primarily Black community. The photos are documentary in style, depicting the realities of the moment. In the creation of Flint is Family, Frazier humanizes the people suffering from the crisis that was spread across the news, giving us insight into the hardships but also the community.
About the Artist
LaToya Ruby Frazier (b. 1982) is an American photographer who wields her camera as a “weapon for social justice” aiming to expose systemic issues around deindustrialization its effects on the community and the environment. Much of her work focuses on her own family—particularly her Grandmother, Ruby, her mother, and herself.
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This is the sculptural installation Straight (2008-2012) by Ai Weiwei. In 2008, a massive earthquake hit China—in the Sichuan province—and killed almost 90,000 people, but was greatly covered up by government censorship. Ai Weiwei, known for his political interventions in China, decided to take matters into his own hands and investigate the situation. Utilizing a team of citizens, Ai interviewed survivors about the quake itself and the potential construction corruption that may have increased the damage. For the art piece, he and his team collected 200 tons of rebar rods from schools that had collapsed. The rods, mangled from the quake, were straightened by Ai and his team and then laid out as you see above in an image resembling tectonic plates in motion. In the gallery this was displayed in, the names of 5,000 schoolchildren who died in the quake were displayed on the walls.
The Concerned soul in this piece is both Ai and his team and the viewer. Knowing that the details around this earthquake were being censored, Ai and his team put their own safety on the line to try and honor the memories of the people who died.
About the Artist
Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) is one of the most notable contemporary artists to date. He is considered a conceptual artist and an activist. Much of his early work involved criticizing the Chinese Government’s actions and policies. In 2011, he was arrested for tax fraud, though people suspect it was for his investigations into the Chinese Government.
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This is the painting Black Ground: In the Service of Others (2019) by Reggie Burrows Hodges. This painting depicts two figures, one sitting and standing behind, holding an umbrella. Due to Hodge’s black ground technique, individual features of the figures are hard to make out, but their existence as Black men is undeniable.
The concern is in the name, “In the Service of Others”. The figure on the left is holding an umbrella, likely for the person in the front. What is unclear, is the relationship between the two figures. Are they friends or family? Do they have a work relationship or a personal one? Why doesn’t the person in front hold the umbrella? Can he?
About the artist
Reggie Burrows Hodges (b. 1965) is an American artist who depicts primarily figurative subjects with an ongoing narrative that tells stories about communes, identity, and memory. His paintings begin with a black ground, in order to deal with the totality of Blackness. Rather than placing Black figures into the scene, the scene is built around the figures.