This week, Maggie Callahan's current project that I found on the AINT-BAD website caught my eye.
What drew my attention to the diptych photographs displaying her work was the very distinguishable contrast between the colors of the objects and the white background on which they are laid out. The project's title, Strangefruit: Ripe with Circumstance, immediately reminded me of the song by Nina Simone that revolves around the lynching of African Americans in the United States. Though morbid, this connection seems purposeful, since the article explains Callahan's aim for this project as an effort to examine "the presentation of manipulated material and the residual effects of the fabricated display. The imprint left by the organic elements serve as evidence of theoretical acts or experiences. The things we are unable to get rid of - the stain of a situation." I think the title is a very appropriate and important component of the work, because although the theme can apply to a broad array of specific occurrences, the emphasis on the lynchings exposes one of the historical 'stains' that humanity has forever imprinted on the world. Callahan's work effectively and beautifully utilizes a diptych layout, visual stimuli, symmetry, and asymmetry to display the unavoidable and enduring consequences of our actions.
Images © Maggie Callahan
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