Ted Harris and Amiri Baraka "Our Flesh of Flames"
Brecht Forum
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The Brecht Forum exhibits Our Flesh of Flames featuring the collages of Theodore A. Harris and the poetic captions of legendary writer and social activist Amiri Baraka.
Posed against an eerily iridescent orange sky, Harris' collaged landscapes are filled with urban dystopia. Upside down capitols, distorted bank notes pose the reality of a society fettered by the cash nexus. Images of John Coltrane, Muhammed Ali and Paul Robeson are juxtaposed with protest scenes showing the creative and transformative power of African American social movements.
Controversial critic and poet Amiri Baraka provides lyrical assault through his captions with his trademark humor and biting social commentary. First published as an illustrated poetry broadside in 2008, Our Flesh of Flames is Harris and Baraka's stunning contribution to African American arts and letters
Media
Schedule
from January 29, 2009 to February 26, 2009
Reception For The Artist on 2009-01-29 from 18:00 to 20:00
Artist(s)
Reviews
The assembly line.
Manufacturing munitions is steady work if you can get it, the pay’s not much, the hours are long, and it can be dangerous. It’s steady work however and no one can deny the need for the product in today’s world.
When you meet a fabricator, working or not, one is impressed with the intensity of their purpose. This activity of production demands a discipline of African proportions, as careful, consistent and unremitting as the development of our species on that continent. The reason for this is the nature of the product that is being assembled. All of the technique and skill required to manipulate the raw material and construct the device requires complete concentration and infinite attention to detail. The responsibility resting on the shoulders of the worker regarding the importance of this product in the hands of the end user is ever present. The overall purpose and context must be thoroughly comprehended. Mistakes are quickly punished. This trade is the fabric of our struggle and the revolution is naught without it.
Such is the content of this volume. The two comrades whose work appears here waste nothing in their efforts to honor the history of this assembly line and its purpose. From Nat Turner to V. M. Molotov the instruments of struggle for liberation and justice have required cadre on these assembly lines. The work is steady if you can get it, the pays not much, the hours are long and it can be dangerous…
Read the book! www.anvilartspress.cjb.net