SMoCA Gallery Guide: Language in the Times of Miscommunication, 2023 | English

galler guide

Can you determine fact from fiction? Artists challenge your perception of reality.

In Babel 1 , Kristin Bauer’s bold, block font communicates a clear and direct voice, and the acrylic plastic she uses as a canvas implies transparency. The layering of the text, however, suggests the confusion associated with competing voices and stories. The images in York Chang’s factograph series 2 remind us of newspaper or encyclopedia illustrations—both typically associated with factual information. Although, the short text he adds to accompany the images might prompt us to consider the multiple ways they can be interpreted. Think about today’s media landscape. What types of language or visual cues convey certainty or validity? How do your own beliefs and perspectives shape your interpretation of words and images?

Experiment with creating fiction from fact by looking closely at the images provided by York Chang above. Generate a short headline that describes each scene. Your headline might aim for accuracy, or you could put your imagination into play.

Headline 1

Headline 2

Images courtesy of York Chang.

Kristin Bauer, Babel, 2017–20. Image courtesy of the artist.

Photo: Grey Shed Studio.

Secret codes, meaningful numbers, and

rebellious editors!

Language can be both complicated and simple, and as technology has progressed, we have found creative ways to communicate with one another. For example, we use emojis to interact and express our feelings. Artists use different modes of communication in their work, sometimes creating their own language. In Preamble 4 , Christopher Jagmin rewrote the first sentence of the U.S. Constitution using Polari, a covert language used in the early 1900s that borrowed slang from other cultures to create a safe way for marginalized communities to communicate, like a secret code.

Something meaningful can be communicated simply, like through numbers. The historical date

in Glenn Ligon’s One Black Day (II) 5 commemorates President Barack Obama’s final day in office, January 20, 2017, while also marking the beginning of a big change in leadership. Dates tell stories that can be pieced together to create a larger narrative. They are used to communicate personal meaning, like birthdays or anniversaries, but also mark moments of historical significance that become collective knowledge, such as July 4.

In her Proof-Reading series 6 , Ann Morton edits short phrases in simple ways to express her own response to the original remarks. Using the proofreading key, revise the following statements to create your own meaning.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

All that glitters is not gold.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Welcome to Atlantica! Artist journeys to new planet.

Advertising has its own language that aims to shape consumer habits. Some contemporary artists borrow advertising aesthetics to critique capitalism and question modes of mass communication that influence cultural norms. A recognizable example would be Andy Warhol’s infamous Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962), which presented commercial imagery from consumer culture. Advertisements build familiarity and trust and have the power to affect mood, entertain, and motivate.

April Bey’s Welcome to Atlantica (Hotel Room Planet Guide) 9 was made to advertise the culture of an Afrofuturist planet that is free from the colonial his-

tory and traumas surrounding Black experience on Earth. This world was inspired by a story from Bey’s father, a devoted Trekkie, who used his imagination to comfort his daughter when she faced racism growing up. Making Atlantica accessible through her art practice, Bey created original advertisements found on the planet to challenge the current status quo. Her advertisements communicate futuristic representations of how Blackness will evolve when systems of oppression are destroyed.

To view April Bey’s tourist guide of Atlantica, scan the QR code.

Contemporary Artists Transform the Archive!

Artists transform everyday objects and archival material like video, documents, and artifacts to create new meanings. Artworks composed with archival material, such as newspapers and found objects, bring a new context to historical moments. Horacio Rodriguez layers contemporary techniques on replicas of pre-Columbian figures in Educate, Engage, Resist 10 . Rodriquez uses graffiti tagging to write words of empowerment on the models in the spirit of resilience. Working with archival materials allows artists to blend the personal, political, and cultural, leading us to question our understanding of the ways history has been presented. In his Fundament series 11 , Jeremy Dean does this by layering historical photographs on fragments of stone from the foundation of a recently removed Confederate monument in St. Augustine, Florida. Dean deepens our knowledge of the past and recognizes the ways it has a lasting effect on our present and future.

Identify types of archival materials artists use in the exhibition. How do they change your perspective of the past?

Images (left to right): (1) April Bey, Welcome to Atlantica (Hotel Room Planet Guide), 2019. Image courtesy of the artist and Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles. (2) Patrick Martinez, That Which We Do Not See (MLK), 2019. Image courtesy of the artist and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles. (3) Safwat Saleem, Concerned but Powerless #12, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist.

Exhibition Map

Crossword

Down

1 To translate into understandable language.

2 A form of storytelling from the Soviet era that includes real people and events. (See York Chang’s factograph series 2 .)

5 Vagueness or confusion caused by too much or too little information. (See Polymode 13 .)

Across

3 To display honesty, truth, or clarity.

4 False data, language, or knowledge that misleads.

6 Declaring an encouraging statement to create a positive state of mind. (See Christopher Jagmin’s I Will Sleep Tonight 14 .)

7 Able to be trusted. (See Elizabeth Moran’s Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind 15 .)

8 Voicing opinions that differ from those that are commonly or officially expressed. (See Ann Morton’s Proof-Reading series 6 .)