Source: http://www.brooksmuseum.org/current
It isn’t often that I get to combine my love for art and my passion for sneakers as it relates to traditional artistic endeavors beyond shoe construction and customizing. There are a number of occasions where sneakers play prominently in the medium used for creating visual art. My daughter created a photography series named “Worn” last year. Those canvases hang in the ARCH office.
Insider Ties: Ep. 156 | Sneaker Photography Project with My Daughter (Part 1 & Part 2)
I’m writing this in the middle of sharing information about my custom made sneaker from COMUNITYmade. I made a conscious decision to only cover that process until it is finished. This means that for the last week I haven’t written about other brands or analyzed any marketing campaigns. I’m writing this post today because breaking up that series makes sense here.
At one of Memphis’ museums, The Brooks, there is currently an installation celebrating Native American artists. The exhibition is a diverse collection of both dark and light capturing the complexity of being Native American in a country stolen. As beautiful as many of the images are, there is a haunting quality and within some of the art the ties that combine indigenous people can be seen. In African-Art classes I learned of masks worn by various cultures from Benin to Yoruba. The elaborate headdresses worn in African culture are very similar to the headdresses worn in Native American culture. As I browsed the exhibit it is obvious why the work of Dane-Zaa/Canadian Brian Jungen caught my eye. His medium (the materials used to create the art) was Air Jordan footwear.
The two pieces:
Horse Mask (Mike), 2016
Supersize the Light in All Directions, 2018
While the headdress here is obviously meant for an animal, there are cues very similar to the elaborate headdresses worn by Kuba Chiefs or in celebrations by various cultures. Indigenous cultures seem to have a spiritual connection. In this instance I was drawn to the sculpture because of the medium, but as I looked at the artwork prior to reading the description I saw in the mask and sculpture the theme of commodification. Instead of delivering my interpretation I’ll post the photos and allow you to experience this in 2D.
