Please see the attached question
4
THE ORIGINS OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA
For this discussion, you will answer the questions in a specific order. So answer the first set of questions BEFORE looking up any information on the work or the artist, then answer the second set after you know more information.
Look at the above work of art by artist Yinka Shonibare, and then answer the following questions:
SECTION A
Describe the figures in the installation. What are they wearing? What time period do they appear to be from?
Focus on the colors and patterns of the fabrics as well as the style of the dresses. Can they tell by looking where these patterns come from? Where have they seen this style of dress before? (Yes, I am asking you to make assumptions based off of what you are seeing and your own experiences/knowledge. This is a safe space, and these assumptions are being used in a learning environment).
The artist presents three female mannequins wearing dresses with bustles (gathered skirts held above the women’s buttocks with large coiled springs or even horsehair bags). This style was fashionable in the Victorian period in England (1837–1901). The design requires layers of expensive fabric, so only wealthy women wore them. England began to establish colonies overseas in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and the Netherlands in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They took over territories in the Americas and Asia, then turned their attention to Africa.
These costumes, worn by mannequins as if part of a historical display, are made from so-called African fabrics, also known as Dutch wax fabrics. “African fabric signifies African identity,” explains the artist, “rather like American jeans (Levi’s) are an indicator of trendy youth culture. In Brixton, African fabric is worn with pride amongst radical or cool youth [….] It becomes an aesthetics of defiance, an aesthetics of reassurance, a way of holding on to one’s identity in a culture presumed foreign or different.”
Although typically African and worn as an expression of an idealized unified identity, these wax–print fabrics are actually Dutch and were made in the 19th century in factories in England, where Yinka Shonibare, who was brought up in Nigeria, now lives and works. Originally made in Holland with an Indonesian technique, and exported to Africa, such fabrics bespeak colonial trade.
What do you think the artist is trying to say by using this kind of cloth to make Victorian-style clothing?
Today in West Africa women communicate their power, wealth, sex appeal, and political or social stances through the wax-print cotton dresses they wear. The colors and patterns communicate a code: some cloth signals authenticity, while other patterns comment on sexual, political, or social issues. Though the prints are associated with African aesthetics, the style is Victorian. Shonibare has dressed up African women to look like members of British aristocracy while acknowledging that he has invented a historically false role for them.
How can clothing express an idea? What does clothing tell them about the wearer’s personality? How accurate is clothing in communicating its wearer’s character?
What might Shonibare be trying to communicate by using mannequins with no heads?
SECTION B
With section, I ask you to pull together your thoughts on your performance in the class on the Art and design. Your letter should be polished, formally composed and approximately 500 words in length. Address the following 5 points in your letter:
1. Describe what you are most proud of learning/accomplishing in this class and give reasons for your opinion.
2. Describe what you have found to be most challenging about the course and provide reasons to back your opinion.
3. Discuss your thoughts on the free readings. Were they of adequate rigor and length? Were they easy to access? Do you prefer these readings to a textbook/access code? Would you enroll in a general elective class because it is advertised having no-cost readings to students? Note any additional thoughts.
4. Review your current grade AND attendance on D2L (look at the syllabus to determine how your attendance may be affecting your grade and be sure to calculate that in to your score)? Could your grade be better, or, is it an accurate reflection of your learning? Explain and substantiate your view.
5. Identify 2 goals for yourself as you move forward in college. Describe actions you plan to take to reach those goals.
