Existing comment:
Neutral Calibration Studies (Ornament + Crime)
2016
wooden platform, neutral gray seamless backdrop paper, digital adhesive prints on laser-cut wooden props, dye-sublimation digital prints on fabric, items purchased on eBay and craigslist, photographic prints, artificial and live plants, and neutral calibrated gray paint
Collection of the artist and Nion McEvoy
This installation tackles key issues at the heart of Syjuco's work, including cultural identity and our perceived notions of neutrality. Assembled on a stage like a classic still life, these objects and images are set against color calibration charts typically used by photographers to determine which colors are "neutral" or "correct" -- a concept that has long been defined through a Caucasian lens. Many of the objects represented date from a period of early modernism when colonialism was unravelling, raising questions about cultural appropriation and the legacy of empire. These artifacts, such as the pixelated Central Asian rug pattern or the gray-painted Filipino butterfly chair, ask what it means to be "neutral," "colorful," or "colored" in contemporary America. |