B. Exploration of Contemporary Artworks with Activities
strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
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Considered within the context of Regeneration , Du Bois’s idea offers insight into some of the ways in which Black people responded to a harsh reality: they created spaces free of the burdens of the white gaze and produced, directed, and exhibited their own films. In the Regeneration exhibition, this painted neon artwork is situated alongside the two versions of the short film Something Good—Negro Kiss (1898) as a reminder of not only a divided US history, but a divided cinematic one as well.
1. Glenn Ligon (b. 1960)
Double America 2 , 2014 Neon and paint Edition of 3, AP 1/2, produced 2022
Reflect
When looking at a photograph of this artwork in your classroom, we invite you to consider these questions:
Explore: Group discussion
• Take a moment and “read” this artwork to yourself. How would you describe it? • What does this artwork communicate to you? • What message is the artist trying to convey and how does it relate to issues raised in the Regeneration exhibition?
In groups of three or four students, re-read the quote by W. E. B. Du Bois: “It is a peculiar sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness, an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” • How do you think Ligon’s Double America 2 and Du Bois’s idea of double-consciousness are related? • What meaning can be drawn from considering these together? • Ligon is considered a CONCEPTUAL ARTIST. What concepts does he communicate with this artwork? Share the group discussions in the classroom, noting similarities and differences across the groups in their responses to the questions. Activity: Create a word map In your group, collectively choose a word that has multiple meanings—like America. It is a place, but it also conjures an idea. Write the chosen word on a big piece of paper and have everyone write out their personal associations with the word. Take time to make connections and note differences. Add graphic elements to create new meanings—like drawing lines from one idea to another, or using color to demarcate similarities and differences. Reflect on the group’s definition: Do new meanings emerge from the word map?
Information
Glenn Ligon’s Double America 2 is formed from an outline of black paint and neon lights. Two neon signs spelling out the word AMERICA are mounted one on top of the other. The top word reads legibly from left to right; glowing white light emanates from the letters. The bottom word is dark and in shadow; its letters are upside down and backwards. The two words flash on and off in a random rhythm. The neon is powered by several cables that hang from the letters and connect to power boxes on the floor, creating another set of lines. Double America 2 evokes the notion of two Americas— one for white people and one for BLACK people, one for those on top and one for those at the bottom. It also recalls the Black sociologist and activist W. E. B. Du Bois’s notion of double-consciousness, which he described in 1903 as central to the Black experience: It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness, an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged
Glenn Ligon, Double America 2, 2014. ©Glenn Ligon; Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth, New York, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, and Chantal Crousel, Paris
*Words set in ALL CAPS are defined in the Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts (section F of this guide).
*Words set in ALL CAPS are defined in the Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts (section F of this guide).
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