EXHIBITIONS
In an interview on August 13, 2010 Mayor Bloomberg gave John Gambling of WOR-AM talk radio show his opinion on cigarettes and taxation on Indian reservations. I listened to the interview as well as many other interviews during that time that seemed to have interlocking points on issues of race, freedom, and representation in current media.
One discussion happened just one day prior to Bloomberg's interview and it just so happened to be through the same media....talk radio. It became known as Dr. Schlessinger's N-Word rant, where she has since apologized for her remarks.
The other discussion during this time involved Mayor Bloomberg as well in regards to an Islamic center being built by Ground Zero. Here are a few words from a speech he gave on August 3, 2010:
"We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That's life and it's part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11," he said.
"Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values - and play into our enemies' hands - if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists - and we should not stand for that."Huffington Post
There wasn't a day that went by in the next month where I did not turn the television on to hear a news anchor update the public on "public" opinion of these two events. There also wasn't a day that went by at all where I heard a news anchor give public credence to Bloomberg's statement:
“I’ve said this to David Paterson, I said, ‘You know, get yourself a cowboy hat and a shotgun,’” said Bloomberg, blasting from the hip on his weekly radio show. ”If there’s ever a great video, it’s you standing in the middle of the New York State Thruway saying, you know, ‘Read my lips – the law of the land is this, and we’re going to enforce the law.’”Daily News
In living in "mutual respect and tolerance" we must accept that in order to communicate we must understand language, meaning and interpretation.
The N-word has been discussed, but there is one word that continues to lack true discussion:
sov·er·eign·ty
[sov-rin-tee, suhv-]
–noun, plural -ties.
1.
the quality or state of being sovereign.
2.
the status, dominion, power, or authority of a sovereign; royalty.
3.
supreme and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a state or community.
4.
rightful status, independence, or prerogative.
5.
a sovereign state, community, or political unit. -Dictionary.com
This word and the above definition became the introduction code to the projection of the "Sound" video at my solo exhibition entitled Cur·rent Car·ri·er. The projection is over a three dimensional screen of slip-cast baby bottle nipples.
...in questioning language I wondered if a child could ever truly be sovereign?