Sanford Biggers: An artist's unflinching look at racial violence
Sanford Biggers: Der unbeirrbare Blick eines Künstlers auf rassistische Gewalt
Sanford Biggers creates art that upends traditional narratives about topics ranging from hip hop to Buddhism to American history. Full bio
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to spark challenging conversations.
anspruchsvolle Gespräche zu entfachen.
video and performance.
Skulptur, Video und Performance.
are history and dialogue.
Geschichte und Dialog.
of a lotus blossom.
Darstellung einer Lotusblüte.
for transcendence
ein Symbol für Transzendenz
des Geistes und der Seele.
auf diesen Lotus zeigt,
to be the cross-section of a slave ship.
Querschnitt eines Sklavenschiffes ist.
britischen Sklaven-Handbuch entnommen
from a British slaving manual
the atrocities of slavery.
um die Gräuel der Sklaverei zu zeigen.
nicht gerne über die Sklaverei,
to talk about slavery,
als globale Industrie.
des buddhistischen Symbols
des schwarzen Amerika
about our shared past.
gemeinsame Vergangenheit anregen.
we carved over 6,000 figures.
mehr als 6000 Figuren geschnitzt.
Auftrag der Stadt New York,
by the City of New York
Eagle-Akademie für junge Männer,
at the Eagle Academy for Young Men,
lateinamerikanische Studenten,
by this history.
am stärksten betroffenen Gruppen.
by a more recent phenomenon,
betroffen durch ein neueres Phänomen,
wooden African figures
around the world.
auf der ganzen Welt.
of them is completely debatable,
ist völlig fraglich,
to be imbued with power,
sie seien mit Macht
how to use this in my own work.
the killings of Trayvon Martin,
der Morde von Trayvon Martin,
Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice
Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice
unarmed black citizens
unbewaffneter schwarze Bürger
with no punishment at all.
at gunpoint by the police.
anvisiert und belästigt wurde.
simply entitled "BAM."
mit dem einfachen Titel "BAM" [Peng].
the identity of each of these figures,
jeder dieser Figuren zu löschen,
and easier to disregard.
und leichter zu ignorieren sind.
dicken braunen Wachs,
brown wax
high-speed video cameras.
High-Speed-Videokameras zu spielen.
kept me from actually pulling the trigger,
den Auslöser zu drücken,
be shooting myself.
als würde ich selbst schießen.
fired the shots.
Raul, die Schüsse abgefeuert.
and cast them first in wax,
groß sie erst in Wachs
like the image you see here,
wie Sie hier auf dem Bild sehen ,
gewaltsamen Schöpfung trägt,
of its violent creation
kürzlich in Miami zeigte,
dass jede Pistole ihre Seele traf.
every gun shot to her soul.
dass diese Kunstwerke
ein Denkmal setzten,
racial violence throughout US history.
der gesamten Geschichte der USA.
über die Geschichte der USA hinaus.
than just US history.
in Berlin im letzten Jahr
what prompted these recent killings.
of a lynching postcard
einer Lynch-Postkarte
have been going on for over 500 years.
about history and race
über Geschichte und Rasse
und Gesellschaft entwickeln.
schafft einen sicheren Raum
to engage one another
notwendiges Gespräch zu kommen.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sanford Biggers - Conceptual artistSanford Biggers creates art that upends traditional narratives about topics ranging from hip hop to Buddhism to American history.
Why you should listen
An LA native working in NYC, Sanford Biggers creates artworks that integrate film, video, installation, sculpture, drawing, original music and performance. He intentionally complicates issues such as hip hop, Buddhism, politics, identity and art history in order to offer new perspectives and associations for established symbols. Through a multi-disciplinary formal process and a syncretic creative approach, he makes works that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are conceptual.
The significance of Biggers' work within contemporary society has been celebrated through solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally, most recently at the Brooklyn Museum, Sculpture Center and Mass MoCA. He has participated in prestigious residencies and fellowships including: Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany; Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland; Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California; ARCUS Project Foundation, Ibaraki, Japan; and the Art in General/ Trafo Gallery Eastern European Exchange in Budapest, Hungary. He has been a fellow of the Creative Time Global Residency, the Socrates Sculpture Park Residency, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council World Views AIR Program, the Eyebeam Atelier Teaching Residency, the Studio Museum AIR Program, the P.S. 1 International Studio Program and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture residency.
Biggers' installations, videos and performances have appeared in venues worldwide including Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, the Whitney Museum and Studio Museum in Harlem, New York and the Yerba Bue a Center for the Arts in San Francisco, as well as institutions in China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland and Russia. The artist's works have been included in notable exhibitions such as: Prospect 1 New Orleans Biennial, Illuminations at the Tate Modern, Performa 07 in NY, the Whitney Biennial and Freestyle at the Studio Museum in Harlem. His works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum and Bronx Museum.
Biggers has won awards including: the American Academy in Berlin Prize, Greenfield Prize, New York City Art Teachers Association Artist-of-the-Year, Creative Time Travel Grant, Creative Capital Project Grant, New York Percent for the Arts Commission, Art Matters Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts Award, the Lambent Fellowship in the Arts, the Pennies From Heaven/ New York Community Trust Award, Tanne Foundation Award and Rema Hort Mann Foundation Award Grant.
Biggers is Assistant Professor at Columbia University's Visual Arts program and a board member of Sculpture Center, Soho House and the CUE Foundation. He has also taught at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Sculpture and Expanded Media program and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University's VES Department in 2009.
Sanford Biggers | Speaker | TED.com