Wk 5 : AOTW - Dread Scott
About the Artist
Scott Tyler was born in 1965, known as Dread Scott, he is an American artist whose works are in nature and focus on the experience of African Americans within the U.S. He grew up in Chicago as an only child to a photographer and a housewife. After his dad got sick, his mom went into the work field and Scott attended an upper-class Latin school where he endured racial harassment. He then continued his education at the Art Institute of Chicago. He also works in a wide range of media including performance, photography, installation, screen-printing and video. His work is more focused on the experiences of African Americans in the United States and often questions the distribution of wealth and power in this country through a variety of media. He wants to "propel history forward".
Formal Analysis
I noticed in Scott's work, he uses lots of controversial ideas, kind of like Weiwei who we studied a few weeks ago. His work is definitely more deep than it looks, creating a darker and deeper meaning than what is simply seen to the eye. His work includes mostly people of color and lots of government officials, such as police. There is also lots of signs and ads that promote rebellion or revolution in his work, showing his ideas about the U.S. and even what it would look like without the U.S. on the planet. It's mostly against the corrupt government with pictures of police abusing African Americans and such races.
Content Analysis
Dread Scott, once again, explores the content of the government and the experiences of African Americans in the United States. His works include people who are being cuffed or attacked by officers, talking about the corruption or abuse of police officers to the people, especially African Americans. He could be referring to the events that happened in the past with riots against the officers who "attacked" and killed African American teenagers. His work has meaning, which I like, he is truly passionate about sharing his ideas and using powerful pictures and videos to prove his point to the public. One of his popular works was, "What is the Proper Way to Display the U.S. Flag.", which got lots of attention from the people and the government. It required stepping on the flag, which is seen as a sign of disrespect and got lots of people's attention.
Synthesis/My Experience
I like what he is fighting for, how passionate he is about fighting these problems he believes in. I, however, do not like the idea he has, what he wants and how he is presenting the ideas. I am happy he is passionate about his work and wants to spread his idea, but I don't like his idea and beliefs about the United States. To me, it seems like trouble and will only bring problems and more fighting. It is just so negative about the U.S. not looking at both sides of the problem, just his side and saying it's the right idea and everything else is wrong.