Sanford Biggers: An artist's unflinching look at racial violence
Sanford Biggers: En kunstners ubøjelig syn på racistisk vold
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.
måder at fremprovokere udfordrende samtaler.
video and performance.
videoer og optræden.
are history and dialogue.
historie og dialog.
of a lotus blossom.
af en lotus blomst.
for transcendence
på transcendens
to be the cross-section of a slave ship.
er tværsnittet af et slave skib.
from a British slaving manual
fra en britisk slave manual
the atrocities of slavery.
til at vise grusomhederne ved slaveri.
to talk about slavery,
at tale om slaveri,
global industri.
buddhistiske symbol,
about our shared past.
om vores fælles fortid.
we carved over 6,000 figures.
snittede vi over 6000 figurer.
by the City of New York
fra New York ønskede
at the Eagle Academy for Young Men,
på Eagle Academy for Young Men,
by this history.
påvirket af denne del af historien.
by a more recent phenomenon,
af et mere for nyligt opstået fænomen,
wooden African figures
around the world.
over hele verden.
of them is completely debatable,
er helt sikkert diskutabel,
to be imbued with power,
fyldt med kræft
how to use this in my own work.
ud af at bruge dette i min kunst.
the killings of Trayvon Martin,
til drabene på Travyon Martin,
Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice
Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice
unarmed black citizens
ubevæbnede sorte borgere
with no punishment at all.
uden nogen form for straf, overhovedet.
at gunpoint by the police.
og truet med pistol af politiet.
simply entitled "BAM."
helt simpelt kaldet "BAM."
the identity of each of these figures,
identiteten af disse figurer,
and easier to disregard.
og så de er nemmere at skille sig af med.
brown wax
i en tyk, brun voks
high-speed video cameras.
og high-speed kameraer.
kept me from actually pulling the trigger,
holdt mig igen fra at trykke på aftrækkeren,
be shooting myself.
en eller anden måde
ville jeg skyde mig selv.
fired the shots.
der affyrede skudende.
and cast them first in wax,
like the image you see here,
of its violent creation
voldelige tilblivelse
for nylig, i Miami
every gun shot to her soul.
kunne mærke hvert skud i sin sjæl.
for disse mord
racial violence throughout US history.
racistisk vold gennem USA's historie.
than just US history.
kun USA's historie.
what prompted these recent killings.
hvad der var årsagen til de nylige mord.
of a lynching postcard
billede af et lynchning postkort
have been going on for over 500 years.
har været en realitet i over 500 år.
about history and race
om historie og race
individer og samfund.
to engage one another
til at engagere hinanden
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