We decided to choose the artist, Carrie Mae Weems, and her photographic series, Ain’t Jokin’, as we discussed it in our Arts in NYC seminar. Immediately, both I and Aliana found it really fascinating because there were so many little details that Weems uses to build a much bigger message. Every time we looked at it more than once, we always found something new about the photograph and a different perspective to analyze, which made us realize just how talented Weems is as an artist. We specifically analyzed the mirror reflection photograph by Weems, as it shows so much about racism and how Black women were expected to look in order to fit into the “ideal” or “white” beauty standard. We also talked a little bit about Kara Walker, another talented artist, who also challenges Black stereotypes through her sculpture in our podcast. We felt that her work connected strongly with Weems, as they both challenge racism and explore identity through art. They also both use small details to create this larger message, especially surrounding the issues women and women of color continue to face.
I and Aliana decided to create a podcast because of how the conversational format allows us to explore these issues in a real and open way, without feeling overly academic. Our process was writing a script, meeting to work on it together, and recording our podcast, as well as editing it. Our goals for this project was to dig deeper into the photograph, focus on the small details, and talk more about the history of Black stereotypes and Carrie Mae Weems as an artist, which I truly believe we accomplished very well.
This project helped us tremendously in exploring the role of arts in the lives of New Yorkers and their communities. Art is such a major part of New York City, and is often overlooked. It is crucial to be exposed to the arts, especially living in such a diverse city. It is genuinely such a privilege to have so much access to so many different kinds of art forms from artists around the world. This project definitely helped us cherish that by deeply exploring one community. We both did our art criticism essays before this project on Carrie Mae Weem’s art, so we did extensive research on the experiences of individuals within the black community. There are over 2 million people a part of the black community in New York City, which is a very large portion of our population. By discussing Carrie Mae Weem’s photograph, it encouraged understanding of diverse perspectives and fostered empathy for hardships faced by the black community. I think having both of those things are especially important in bringing our society together, especially when it comes to the issues occurring in our world today.
