"Black Out" is a beautifully articulated and organized documentary depicting racist artwork found in the Irving Primary School dating back to 1979. The most shocking aspect of the documentary was that such disturbing artwork had been swept under the rug in an elementary school for nearly 40 years. I was especially impressed with everyone's decision to start a conversation rather than quietly remove the artwork. By opening a child's depiction of a man of color being lynched for discussion, we can not only see the mindset held by people in the recent past but also explore the issues that still exist in our communities today. I found conversations that stemmed from this incident quite astonishing. Especially the idea that as time has progressed, we see attempts towards encouraging "diversity" in our communities, although our communities have not yet achieved "inclusivity."
The mere age of the artist was alarming. It is not an ordinary occurrence for a primary schooler to be painting anyone getting lynched. When you see the innocent paintings of other students next to it, the painting appears even more out of place. This led me to question the student's mental well-being and environment. What could have inspired a ten-year-old to create something so disturbing? In fact, Irving Primary School was a diverse school in 1979, so it was even sadder that students of color were subjected to seeing this work being put on display.
When a parent complained, the primary school responded by removing the painting from the school and relocating it to a more appropriate location. This is a decision I agree with. Firstly, a primary school is full of impressionable children not of the age to be exposed to such gruesome art. On the other hand, the painting holds a certain aspect of the history of Highland Park. Surprisingly, there happened to be another painting of a man of color being boiled in a pot. The fact that these artworks were created by students and were permitted to be displayed on the walls tells us a lot about how different our not-so-distant past was. Such work should be discussed in a more appropriate setting in which we can turn our past into a learning experience. The next step for the community should be to preserve and build on this conversation. The people of the Highland Park community should be aware of their past and use this as an opportunity to work on their community's inclusivity of all races.
This student project did wonders in depicting everyone's reaction to a racist artwork. The team's effort was evident in reaching out to the people involved and editing all of the footage so that the video flowed pleasantly. They covered many issues in our society that stemmed from everyone's opinion of the artwork. Overall, they had made something historical a subject for everyone to learn from and analyze their present communities.
The portrayal of controversial art by Blacked Out reminded me of an artist known for her controversial art series. As an international student from Kuwait, I recall coming across the Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin. Unlike Blacked Out, her art exhibit "It's a Man's World" had been shut down. "It's a Man's World" was a continuation of her previous series, "Society Girl." The newer series explores the position of the man in society. Amin explores current political conundrums and ironies in a society that cannot survive without double standards and hypocrisy. However, it has been censored due to it challenging topics that would be considered taboo. This demonstrates that, no matter how controversial, we should allow the artwork to serve as a starting point for a discussion. We can learn about our world from the past and present in this way, and work towards a better future for all.
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