Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce
Los Angeles-based artist Sam Durant built a large sculpture called Scaffold for Documenta in 2012 in Kassel, Germany.
He described it on his website at the time.
Fast forward to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis ready to open its newly renovated sculpture garden.
That’s when the Indians got all butt hurt about it.
It didn’t trigger historic pain for the month it sat there before somebody told you the Dakotas were involved in 1/7th of the part
of US history used in this piece to represent all government hangings.
What, why the fuck would they decide what happens to it. If you acquiesce to their not-in-my-backyard demands, fine.
Take it down and move it out, but they have no right to dictate its future.
OK, he’s mending his standing with the Indians and white liberals who control all the art institutions in the country.
When you first saw it (at the closed park) you instantly knew it involved hanging Dakotas? Bullshit, you had already been told
so you went to see it and took your kid with you. You were fully prepared to "break down in tears". Nothing like Mommy crying
to impress the kid.
It’s not about you Kate, it’s not about Indian history, it’s about US penal history. I don’t see Blacks getting upset and more of
them were hung/lynched than anyone else.
How about if they give you a permit for casino expansion? 
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Bruce, I've generally been a fan of the IOTD & your work keeping it running. Lately I don't really check in on the cellar in general, but keep an eye on the RSS feed of the IOTD.
But I popped in to say that this is some racist trash.
I say that because the language + content of your post show consistent disrespect to a group of people clearly and calmly saying "this hurts us and here is why." You're dismissing their pain without looking twice at what hurts them, despite them + countless others providing a free education on the subject. And you're being pretty deliberately dense in order to do so.
In no particular order:
*
address people how they want to be addressed, meaning retire "Indian". You're quoting passages where it's really clear how people want to be collectively referred to
* WTF to the casino joke
* why does it matter how far the piece progressed before the pain was felt? One does not need to be omniscient to be wronged. And it's fairly rich to have a 3-week statute of limitations on injuries resulting from approximately 400 years of colonization
* 1/7th seems like a significant fraction when you're counting murders, and especially when what you quoted notes that fraction includes the largest mass execution in our history.
* if you wanna see how black people have responded to an incredibly similar and recent piece of art, read up on this recent painting of Emmett Till after he was lynched:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/da...protest-897929
https://hyperallergic.com/368012/wha...z-controversy/
https://thenewinquiry.com/the-demand-remains/
http://contemptorary.org/the-rage-sexton/
* if you wanna see how black artists have chosen to respond to the USA's history of lynching, check out
The Memorial To Peace and Justice