Walker Repsonse: Anna J Fitting.
Posted on October 15, 2007
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Walker’s mural Excavated from the Black Heart of a Negress is a depiction of various scenes regarding the mistreatment of African Americans by white American. Only silhouetted figures, archaically clothed and mannered, are displayed in this mural. With a swift glance, the piece may appear to be a series of stills from a cartoon; lighthearted and with little weight beyond what is expressly stated. However, the tacit depiction of this mural extends beyond the truly vulgar actions in which the figures are taking part.
Upon viewing Kara Walker’s exhibit at the Whitney, my mind was immediately drawn back to the discussions on voyeurism that our class took part in after reading Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others. Walker’s use of cartoonish silhouettes exudes at first a slapstick mood; like a serial of characters engaged in acts of physical humor. Upon further viewing, it is revealed that the physical acts in which the characters are taking place are not humorous at all, but rather grotesque and disturbing. Because of the style in which the piece was done, my first impression was to regard it as comical. When I realized what the figures were actually doing, I felt guilt for momentarily mistaking the piece as a lighthearted one; I felt as though I should not be viewing such grim images that I was not immediately able to recognize for their true grievousness. Beyond the images, Excavated from the Black Heart of a Negress conveys more than just of the past. The emotions that the piece has the power to harbor in a viewer; guilt and a feeling of forced voyeurism, communicate the thought that the reality of the struggles depicted cannot be understood immediately, or perhaps at all, by all but the most informed viewers. Due to the impossibility of universal understanding, the struggles which walker displays are not to be regarded as a thing of the past.
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