Does This Image Offend You?
John Sims’ “The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag,â€? created a frenzy of discussion back in March. At the time, I didn’t have a strong opinion one way or the other on the piece. I do believe that art should offend people from time to time. If a work of art sparks a discussion, then it was a success. Simply offending someone does not necessarily make something good art. At the same time, art that offends is not necessarily bad.
I do not think this particular piece will invoke the kind of rage we saw in 1989 with Dread Scott Tyler’s “What Is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?” Often, I feel as if people take quick offense to a piece they do not quite understand.
John Sims has to live with his decision to display work of this nature. He already lives with continual death threats from the Ku Klux Klan. If you offend those guys, you obviously did something right. I’d have to say that the primary purpose of art is to arouse emotions and social debate, which this piece had obviously accomplished.
John Sims, condederate flag, kkk, ku klux clan, art, offends
May 15th, 2007 at 9:39 am
I think that’s pretty cool in terms of art. It’s really evocative, which is what art is supposed to be.
As a former Southerner, though, it often makes me sad to see the Confederate flag equated with hate. It wasn’t about hatred when it was created. It became about hatred.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:33 am
It definitely is evocative. I have varying degrees of opinion personally on the Confederate flag. I can see how people have a problem with it. It’s similar to Germans having a problem with someone having a Nazi flag these days. Although the Nazi symbol wasn’t originally a “hate” symbol it is now always considered one. I think the same goes for the confederate flag. It has become a symbol of hate. You can probably thank groups like the KKK for that.