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[theignoramus]

Would it be better if the (black) artist didn't paint his face in a way that is considered offensive by many?


Or would people cry about sexism (a man representing a mutilated woman as if women couldn't draw attention to this on their own) and/or cultural relativism?



Do you tip the cake? I mean it's self-service, but he's providing entertainment as well as delivering your food, in a way.

it would've been better if it didnt look like a racist exhibit straight out of the 19th century. Are you being deliberately fucking obtuse? I hope you are.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

This is more ignorance than blatant racism. There are european cultures that simply don't get why blackface is offensive. It's a shame they had to mar such a good cause with such a tasteless exhibition.

 

[akira28]

it would've been better if it didnt look like a racist exhibit straight out of the 19th century. Are you being deliberately fucking obtuse? I hope you are.

I'd really have to assume he was, for sake of comedy, because both of those points are valid. If he wasn't blacked up, and if he wasn't a man making funperformance art out of a serious and painful ordeal, people probably would have fewer issues with this.

I could look at this and see how it could have actually been both tasteful and poignant, but instead it's just grotesquerie on top of grotesquerie.

 

[Vicetrailia]

Well watching the video made me get it, I understand what's going on.

I did jump the gun but you know what, I wasn't done any favors (tone of article, how the OP organized the content).

 

[theignoramus]

I don't know but aren't there tribes looking like this that cut pieces of vagina's?

So isn't that just calling the thing by the name and not being racist?

This was to address traditions from Africa. There are people from Africa that look like that and do that. So when does that turn racist?

you've just defended the majority of racist caricatures.

 

[TheOMan]

Focus people.

This is about cutting out pieces of vagina's. This happens in Africa as part of tradition.

They made a cake to symbolize this and give attention to these inhumane habits.

The story goes beyond what you see. It is ignorant to call racism just based on the picture.

And this was the best way they came up with to represent this? Really? This is art?

 

[Acheron]

Meh GAF can't read. Therefore racism.

Good point, sloppy execution but unlike the US the rest of the world and blackface don't have the same relationship.

 

[itsgreen]

you've just defended the majority of racist caricatures.

Be a man and bold the whole part... look like that and do that

 

[Tacitus_]

And this was the best way they came up with to represent this? Really? This is art?

Take it up to the artist:

 

[samus i am]

http://i.imgur.com/3AHTK.jpg

As already said, the picture is mind-numbing enough to not even get to the article.

In a thread about the tastelessness of stereotypes, do you think that adding more caricatures to it is a good idea?

 

[akira28]

Be a man and bold the whole part... look like that and do that

No one from Africa looks like that though...part of the point. No one has 'dem big wide googley eyes, or dem big red lips'. Except a lot of racist caricatures from the past. Looking at his other art, I see he puts blackface on everything.

But did he have to put it on this? I can't read dutch so I don't know what his meanings are, I can guess. Maybe it's his signature thing for this period, but...man I don't know. Really I'm just going to shake my head.

 

[samus i am]

Meh GAF can't read. Therefore racism.

Good point, sloppy execution but unlike the US the rest of the world and blackface don't have the same relationship.

Nice try, but the National Afro-Swedish Association is complaining about this.

 

[Acheron]

Nice try, but the National Afro-Swedish Association is complaining about this.

I really don't know how much that means, Googling seems to indicate it's not really a large organization.

But more to the point, advocacy groups tend to find ways to make themselves relevant I've never seen a controversy that GLAAD, the ADL, NAACP etc. hasn't tried to utilize to burnish credentials.

 

[akira28]

The National Afro-Swedish Association isn't a large organization? You don't say? I guess 'complainers gonna complain', then?

 

[Shiloa]

I can't be the only one who thought it was pretty cool?

 

[The Incarnation]

The most offensive thing is calling this tripe art.

 

[theignoramus]

Meh GAF can't read. Therefore racism.

Good point, sloppy execution but unlike the US the rest of the world and blackface don't have the same relationship.

errm, it's a grotesque, animalistic face with gigantic shark teeth and massive lips. it's not just some dude painting his face black, there are classic racial stereotypes at work here.
also, your point is beyond idiotic. it's like saying you can dress up like a character from Der Sturmer in China, because anti-semitic imagery doesnt have the imprint and history there that it has in europe and america.

 

[theignoramus]

Be a man and bold the whole part... look like that and do that

nobody from Africa looks like that. jesus christ. you may as well say the same thing about those racist anti-japanese posters from ww2, complete with the snarling "yellow savages" speaking in broken english. but, but people from Japan "looked like that and talk like that"...uh no, it's a fucking racist caricature.

 

[The Technomancer]

I skipped the picture and started reading...when I read that it was a cake shaped like a black woman I looked back up. Hoooooooly shit
It doesn't matter how good the cause is, that cake was a terrible idea. It couldn't look like an Africa person without also being an incredibly racist caricature?

 

[Kinyou]

Focus people.

This is about cutting out pieces of vagina's. This happens in Africa as part of tradition.

They made a cake to symbolize this and give attention to these inhumane habits.

The story goes beyond what you see. It is ignorant to call racism just based on the picture.

You could also interpret it as the "west" feeding on Africa's suffering.

 

[Zeppelin]

Yeah, I'm sure the point of making the cake look stereotypical was to be as racist as possible.

 

[tino]

That's an awesome image. My mind is blown.

 

[Bay Maximus]

Race, Europe & Circumcision in one story?

Blimey.

And so technically tipping is also included.

 

[Artanisix]

What the FUCK at that video. HOW CAN PEOPLE EVEN BEGIN TO EAT THIS CAKE IF THE CAKE IS JUST GOING TO START SCREAMING AT YOU

 

[samus i am]

I really don't know how much that means, Googling seems to indicate it's not really a large organization.

But more to the point, advocacy groups tend to find ways to make themselves relevant I've never seen a controversy that GLAAD, the ADL, NAACP etc. hasn't tried to utilize to burnish credentials.

I think your dismissal of blackface as an 'American thing' is a sign of your ignorance (probably not willful) on race relations. That fact that the National Afro-Swedish Association is small makes no difference. Remember when the Spanish basketball team when to China and took pictures with their eyes pulled back, mocking Chinese people? They probably thought it was a harmless thing too. The fact is, these exaggerated caricatures are outdated and tasteless. The artist and everyone involved should have known this.

 

[Onemic]

The problem with that image really stems from the use of blackface. And I really don't give two fucks if it was a black artist that made it. I really have to wonder what was going through his mind to use blackface to address this particular issue.

 

[SmokyDave]

The problem with that image really stems from the use of blackface. And I really don't give two fucks if it was a black artist that made it. I really have to wonder what was going through his mind to use blackface to address this particular issue.

Perhaps he wants to 'reclaim' the imagery in the same spirit that words are 'reclaimed'?

That's all I've got.

 

[theignoramus]

what was going through his mind....

publicity.

 

[Onemic]

Perhaps he wants to 'reclaim' the imagery in the same spirit that words are 'reclaimed'?

That's all I've got.

From the other art he has it definitely seems like it, but this was not the smartest event/image to try and reclaim it.

 

[akira28]

Perhaps he wants to 'reclaim' the imagery in the same spirit that words are 'reclaimed'?

That's all I've got.

I thought about that too, it's the only explanation I could come up with. But it's a very subjective reclamation effort if that's the case. I'm guessing he has his own very interesting views on race if he's a black Swede.

 

[methane47]

WTF?

 

[MightyKAC]

The problem with that image really stems from the use of blackface. And I really don't give two fucks if it was a black artist that made it. I really have to wonder what was going through his mind to use blackface to address this particular issue.

The more I look at this "artist" work the less actual art I see. What I do see is a shock jock who's pandering trash to some pretty rich and influential people. My guess is he's less concerned about the women in Africa and more about getting paid and getting his name out there.

 

[Zeppelin]

This is what the artist has to say:

The artist Makode Linde believes that Afro Swedes National Association misunderstood his artwork, which he regrets.

- Given the poor selection of artists available in Sweden who would define themselves as Afro-Swedes, I had hoped that Afro Swedes' Association was a little more versed in the art that I do, he told TT.

Makode Linde is known for basing his art on racism, xenophobia and slavery. The cake, which was part of his works, was to make Western perceptions of Africa contrast the real picture of slavery and oppression.

He also stresses that the main purpose of the cake was not to depict mutilation.

Also artists riksorganiation, KRO, wondering if Afro Swedes' Association has understood the work. In a written statement, riksordförande Karin Willén writes that "those who followed Makode Linde's oeuvre knows that he is based on racism, xenophobia and slavery."

- In Sweden, we take freedom of speech for granted. But freedom of speech is something we will always have to protect and safeguard. In a free society, we must also be able to handle art that criticize, question and rub, says Karin Willén in a press release from KRO.

Zacharias Zohuir is chairman of the National Association of Afro Swedes in Stockholm.

Makode Linde claim that you have misunderstood and do not understand the purpose of his art. What's your comment on that?

- We do not comment on what artists do. They have their freedom and they will know where their boundaries lie, but we definitely think that we do not react excessively in any way, he told Svenska Dagbladet.

Roughly translated from this article: http://www.svd.se/kultur/moderna-jo-anmalt-for-tartservering_7062421.svd

 

[djplaeskool]

In a thread about the tastelessness of stereotypes, do you think that adding more caricatures to it is a good idea?

I feel the overall candor and quality of this sacred GAF discussion has not been diminished.
Also, I'm African-American, so it's ok, right? Or at the very least, as already posited here, it's quite a twist!

 

[Vagabundo]

Who thought this would be a good idea?

 

[echoshifting]

This is more ignorance than blatant racism. There are european cultures that simply don't get why blackface is offensive. It's a shame they had to mar such a good cause with such a tasteless exhibition.

This was my take as well. It's disturbing and misguided...you could argue that (willful) ignorance is in and of itself a form of racism, but this does not appear to be malicious. It's unfortunate, no matter how you slice it.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Focus people.

This is about cutting out pieces of vagina's. This happens in Africa as part of tradition.

They made a cake to symbolize this and give attention to these inhumane habits.

The story goes beyond what you see. It is ignorant to call racism just based on the picture.

lol.

This mothafucka baked a CAKE to serve to a crowd about as far removed from this issue as possible.

A cake! And a hideous one at that. Done.

Edit: artists comments are pathetic. When being "deep" goes horribly wrong.

 

[akira28]

The more I look at this "artist" work the less actual art I see. What I do see is a shock jock who's pandering trash to some pretty rich and influential people. My guess is he's less concerned about the women in Africa and more about getting paid and getting his name out there.

"The easy part is making it."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb8oNlAqiLw

 

[Dreams-Visions]

The more I look at this "artist" work the less actual art I see. What I do see is a shock jock who's pandering trash to some pretty rich and influential people. My guess is he's less concerned about the women in Africa and more about getting paid and getting his name out there.

+1 to that.

It's apparent in the good time he's having. His oh-so-deep message is clearly lost on his Sweedish audience, and he's apparently too busy eating cake and enjoying himself to notice. It's clearly not about the suffering women.

I mean...a fucking CAKE. I need an appropriate Boondocks episode ASAP.

 

[Onemic]

lol.

This mothafucka baked a CAKE to serve to a crowd about as far removed from this issue as possible.

A cake! And a hideous one at that. Done.

Edit: artists comments are pathetic. When being "deep" goes horribly wrong.

but he's black, you can't argue against it anymore!

 

[jorma]

I think your dismissal of blackface as an 'American thing' is a sign of your ignorance (probably not willful) on race relations.

The difference as i see it is that in america, blackface is always auto-racist while in Sweden blackface can be racist depending on the context of the presentation. The fact that a few people complain about it does not make it racist in itself. Everything would be racist if that was the case.

 

[MThanded]

wtf at that picture and the video

 

[Alucrid]

should have just made a giant vagina

 

[Acheron]

The difference as i see it is that in america, blackface is always auto-racist while in Sweden blackface can be racist depending on the context of the presentation. The fact that a few people complain about it does not make it racist in itself. Everything would be racist if that was the case.

More or less.

 

[Cat Party]

I honestly can't remember a worse photo op than the one in the OP. The way they are all laughing is too much.

EDIT:

The difference as i see it is that in america, blackface is always auto-racist while in Sweden blackface can be racist depending on the context of the presentation. The fact that a few people complain about it does not make it racist in itself. Everything would be racist if that was the case.

I'm sure people in America said the same thing decades ago when blackface was a popular comedy tool. It is fucked up at the most basic level.

 

[akira28]

The difference as i see it is that in america, blackface is always auto-racist while in Sweden blackface can be racist depending on the context of the presentation. The fact that a few people complain about it does not make it racist in itself. Everything would be racist if that was the case.

slight...feeling...of deja vu...

 

[Supermanisdead]

The difference as i see it is that in america, blackface is always auto-racist while in Sweden blackface can be racist depending on the context of the presentation. The fact that a few people complain about it does not make it racist in itself. Everything would be racist if that was the case.

What is an example of non-racist blackface?

 

[Devolution]

So he's trying to bring awareness to genital mutilation by making a blackface cake and the first thing that happens is the crotch is cut out?

Fuck everyone involved.

 

[Vermillion]

Quickly, who knows how to send it back to hell?

 

[Zaptruder]

While I do think this particular display was quite dumb and even ignorant... I will say that the knee-jerk overreaction to such a trivial matter is no small reason for the poor state of politics around the world today.

I mean... who cares about effective policies anymore?

And would this be news if a prominent politician wasn't involved? You'd just dismiss it as a bunch of out-of-touch old white people.