Event Response Event #2

A couple weeks ago I went to the Institute for Contemporary Art to see their newest exhibit, Great Force. I knew the exhibit was going to be about race but I was surprised by the different perspectives the exhibit consisted of. Most art exhibits about race talk about black and brown people but this exhibit discussed whiteness a lot. It discussed the problems white people have with their whiteness and how it affects the world. At the beginning of the exhibit there was a quote from James Baldwin that said “History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.” from The White Man’s Guilt. Another thing that interested me was a picture that was pitch black with tiny earth on it called “rearview mirror”. It is supposed to represent the constant fear black people live in while driving and the Earth is supposed to represent the otherworldliness black people feel in America. The exhibit as a whole was super interesting and is open until January for anyone who wants to visit.