Sanford Biggers: An artist's unflinching look at racial violence
Sanford Biggers: Een kunstenaars onverschrokken kijk op rassengeweld
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.
om uitdagende gesprekken uit te lokken.
video and performance.
en video- en performancekunst.
are history and dialogue.
geschiedenis en dialoog.
van een lotusbloesem van 272 kilo,
of a lotus blossom.
tweeënhalve meter.
for transcendence
het symbool voor overstijging
van de geest en het verstand.
to be the cross-section of a slave ship.
de dwarsdoorsnede van een slavenschip is.
from a British slaving manual
aan een Britse handleiding voor slavernij
the atrocities of slavery.
om de wreedheid van slavernij te tonen.
om over slavernij te praten
to talk about slavery,
als een wereldwijde industrie,
van dit boeddhistische symbool
en het trauma van zwart Amerika
about our shared past.
gedeelde verleden te bevorderen.
we carved over 6,000 figures.
meer dan 6.000 figuren uitgesneden.
by the City of New York
van de stad New York
van achtenhalve meter hoog
at the Eagle Academy for Young Men,
bij de 'Eagle Academy for Young Men',
en latino studenten,
by this history.
getroffen zijn door deze geschiedenis.
by a more recent phenomenon,
door een meer recent fenomeen,
wooden African figures
beeldjes verzameld
around the world.
en markten over de hele wereld.
of them is completely debatable,
ervan valt te betwisten,
to be imbued with power,
dat ze doordrenkt zijn met macht,
how to use this in my own work.
in mijn eigen werk kan gebruiken.
the killings of Trayvon Martin,
van de dood van Trayvon Martin,
Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice
Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice
unarmed black citizens
ongewapende zwarte burgers
with no punishment at all.
zonder enkele straf.
aan een topuniversiteit,
at gunpoint by the police.
werd lastiggevallen door de politie,
simply entitled "BAM."
the identity of each of these figures,
van al deze figuren uit te wissen,
and easier to disregard.
en makkelijker te negeren waren.
brown wax
in een dikke, bruine was,
met gebruik van kogels.
high-speed video cameras.
en high-speed videocamera's te spelen,
kept me from actually pulling the trigger,
kon ik niet echt de trekker overhalen;
be shooting myself.
fired the shots.
and cast them first in wax,
die ik eerst in wax afgoot
zoals het beeld dat je hier ziet,
like the image you see here,
of its violent creation
gewelddadige maakproces
in Miami liet zien,
every gun shot to her soul.
diep van binnen voelde.
racial violence throughout US history.
rassengeweld in de geschiedenis van de VS.
than just US history.
dan alleen deze geschiedenis.
what prompted these recent killings.
naar de reden voor deze recente doden.
of a lynching postcard
van begin 1900 met een lynchpartij erop
have been going on for over 500 years.
al meer dan 500 jaar lang gaande is.
about history and race
over geschiedenis en ras,
en als samenleving ontwikkelen.
een veilige omgeving biedt
to engage one another
voor mensen om elkaar te vinden
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