{"id":31,"date":"2023-10-17T17:23:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T21:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/?page_id=31"},"modified":"2023-12-05T10:58:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T15:58:08","slug":"art-takes-on-hate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/art-takes-on-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Takes On Hate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Award
Lucy Kim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CONFRONTING RACISM WITH PIXELS AND PETRI DISHES<\/h3>\n

Art\u2014not unlike scholarly research\u2014is about breaking boundaries, upending conventional thinking, and showing reality in a new and unexpected light.<\/strong> When done collaboratively, across disciplines, the effect is even more powerful.<\/p>\n

Especially when the topic is racism.<\/p>\n

\"A
Lucy Kim, associate professor of art, creates screen prints that challenge social perceptions of human biology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Associate Professor of Art LUCY KIM<\/strong><\/a> literally went into a science lab to pursue her latest art project. In a one-of-a-kind endeavor, she is creating prints with melanin<\/a>\u2014the natural pigment that gives our eyes, hair, and skin their color\u2014produced by a genetically modified strain of E. coli<\/em>. \u201cTo me, the point of being an artist is to see something new,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m always trying to find a new path, confronting a new thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While melanin helps protect skin cells from ultraviolet light, its biological function can be overshadowed by its role in perceptions of racial identity. \u201cIt\u2019s a provocative material,\u201d Kim says. Her captivating monochromatic prints raise questions about the social constructs imposed on human biology.<\/p>\n

To make these prints, Kim learned how to culture the bacteria and create an ink while an artist-in-residence at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard from 2018 to 2021. Now, she plies her trade in the lab of JOHN CELENZA<\/strong><\/a>, an associate professor of biology at BU. Kim says she\u2019s found kindred spirits in the scientists she\u2019s consulted.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I describe why I think art is amazing to research scientists, they say, \u2018That\u2019s exactly how I describe science.\u2019 The whole point of it is to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GRAPHIC CONTENT<\/h3>\n

In another instance of an interdisciplinary artistic partnership at Boston University, an antiracist historian and a graphic artist joined forces.<\/p>\n

\"Joel
Joel Christian Gill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

IBRAM X. KENDI<\/strong><\/a>, founding director of BU\u2019s CENTER FOR ANTIRACIST RESEARCH<\/strong><\/a> and Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, teamed up with Associate Professor of Art JOEL CHRISTIAN GILL<\/strong><\/a> (CFA\u201904) to render Kendi\u2019s acclaimed book Stamped from the Beginning<\/em><\/a> into a graphic novel. The 2016 National Book Award winner traces the history of racist ideas in America. Kendi thought a graphic treatment would reach a greater number\u2014and different types\u2014of eyes and ears. \u201cThere are some readers who will read this graphic [version], but they won\u2019t necessarily read a 500-page narrative history,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Enter Gill, inaugural chair of the new MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN VISUAL NARRATIVE<\/strong><\/a> program. Kendi supplied him a PDF with highlighted sections and stepped out of the way. The result was delightful and surprising, peppered with modern twists while still treating the subject with respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI built a narrative around those sections,\u201d Gill says. \u201cI added stuff like \u2018IDK\u2019 and \u2018Are you mansplaining?\u2019 after the fact. Trying to make something as serious as racism and the history of racist ideas in America funny is difficult. I feel most of the jokes are funny\/not funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t fully know what to expect,\u201d Kendi says, \u201calthough I did know that Joel was a great cartoonist and a historian in his own right. I suspected that whatever he produced would be great visually and conceptually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether in a lab, at the computer, or in the studio, one thing is clear\u2014when great minds get together to think differently, the world is enriched.<\/p>\n

\"Joel
Joel Christian Gill, associate professor of art, says, “Trying to make something as serious as racism and the history of racist ideas in America funny is difficult. I feel most of the jokes are funny\/not funny.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CONFRONTING RACISM WITH PIXELS AND PETRI DISHES Art\u2014not unlike scholarly research\u2014is about breaking boundaries, upending […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12906,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"bu-landing","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":745,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions\/745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}