This public art exhibition presents 20 artists on 20 billboards located in the 5 boroughs of New York City. Ministry of Truth: 1984/2020 is a reference to George Orwell’s dystopian novel in which a Ministry of Truth announces WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH, horrifyingly relevant in 2020. Inspired by this scenario, artists submitted an outpouring of ideas, ranging from bleak outlook on democracy to concerns about divisiveness in political rhetoric today.
The piece of Dread Scott is as powerful as the words of Georfe Orwell’s. He is showing to the word what systematic racism has done to America. Few words “there is a white male running” creates no scenario to understand racism but when we analyze the whole picture the story is different. The amount of phone calls that “citizens” make to the police office because they feel in danger are highly related to discontent in equal rights. If we change one word in Scott’s billboard we would find a police officer coming to the scene to put the runner in handcuffs.
9-1-1 there is a black male running down the street, is a sentence that represents racism between americans just because two persons look different. We as a society have to be better and artist like Georfe Orwell shouldn't be here showing us how to be better humans.
Your review for “Art at a Time Like This: Ministry of Truth 1984/2020” does a great job of describing the show to someone who hasn't yet seen it. Your analysis of Dread Scott’s “White Male Running” was quite insightful. It may help to mention what makes the format of the show successful or unsuccessful especially considering the restrictions on viewing traditional shows as a result of the pandemic. It may also be beneficial to specify the curating group within the review's introduction and come to a personal conclusion about the show in the conclusion. Is there something that you think could have been executed more effectively? What do you think about the inclusion of the map? Is there significance in its inclusion?
ReplyDeleteThis review of “Ministry of Truth” of truth by Dread Scott, is extremely poignant for a time like this. Having found the work on the Art at a Time like This website, I think there could be a connection drawn to the relevancy of this work to the online platform at what it stands for. The website showcases works that are exclusively relevant to todays societal climate and, in this work, the mistreatment of Black people in America due to systematic racism and a highly neglectful government. What I enjoy about this review is the inclusion of the reference of the work coming from George Orwell, and how a work back then with that line is still true today, showcasing the sad reality of it all.
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