Entry 21

 Kara Walker's  8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America

 image taken from: http://learn.walkerart.org/karawalker/Main/Narrative

Let's talk about shadows. Shadows are an essential component in lighting a scene and if a designer wishes they can be the key component. A shadow in many ways is little more than a silhouette of an object placed on the floor but artist have the ability of taking that silhouette and moving from the floor to center stage. Kara Walker is an artist who's entire area of expertise is about manipulating silhouettes and shadows. She chooses to flatten all of the objects in her pieces because the issues she deals with, racism, sex, violence, and misogyny, are often too graphic when presented using a fully revealed human body. Shadows offer discretion, often a film may show the shadows of two people abusing each other instead of the actors performing it in order to show what is happening and still be able to  stay within a certain age-rating, and because of this a scene cast in darkness can reveal far more truths than a well lit scene. Take for example this piece 8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America which hints at the sexual violence and exploitation of young black women under slavery. How would this piece change if we could see the forms and faces of the two figures? Would it be more powerful if we could see the sorrow and desperation on the girl's face or do our imaginations create a far bleaker picture than reality could create.