tag tema
Foundational Text is a work by Theaster Gates, made in 2013. On a black pedestal two well-read books lie one on top of the other, exhibited as if they were precious objects. Within these bindings are collections of Ebony and Jet, the first magazines published specifically for black readers. On the one hand, the black community loved these magazines but on the other - the artist thought – they were just superficial commercial publications which served to distract black people from the important things happening in America at that time. Ambivalent objects therefore: precious for black people…. or for white people?