Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate

March 19 - May 11, 2007
in the Board Room
 

Students working with David Kamm, one of Wesley’s artists-in-residence this semester, created work in response to a project initiated by the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana and the Montana Human Rights Agency.  Those organizations asked artists to respond to hate literature published by the Church of the Creator, a white-supremacist group that has migrated to Montana.  Copies of their literature were provided to the artists for use with the creative transformations.  Examples of David’s responses to the project are in the Fresh from the Studio exhibition. The work of five students may be seen in the adjacent Board Room.

Chris Bishop

“Begins with You”

Transforming hate begins with you.  Hate exists within systems; yet hate springs from human hearts seeking power, wealth, or dominance.  In order for us to combat hate in our world and in American society, we must first begin within our heats.  Seeking to see ourselves as made in the image of God, we too must seek to see others as made in the image of God.  Each person, worthy of value, worthy of respect, and worthy of love, is not something to be liked or hated, but an important part of God’s creation.  Transforming hate begins with you . . . and me.
 

Rebecca Frost Brillhart

“Dying for Love”

Key words and passages from the poetry of Genesis 2 affirm life – God’s good, diverse creation, including humankind.  The branch reaches into the frame from the Source of all sustenance and stresses the interconnectedness of humanity, God and all of the creation.  RAHOWA! text creates a separate and isolated environment for those who would deny the beauty of God’s world – out of touch with others, out of touch with themselves as God’s good creation.  They are “dying for love,” unable to live in harmony with persons unlike themselves, blind to God’s purposes for the whole creation, lost in their own darkness.
 

Dennis Crolley

“John Brown’s Body”

For my work, I used old newspaper fragments depicting the centennial of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry as a way to frame cuttings from the White Man’s Bible.  By juxtaposing two American radicals, John Brown and Ben Klassen (author of White Man’s Bible) the viewer is invited to engage in comparison and contrast, hopefully emerging with a sense of how these opposed outlooks are struggling for our allegiance.  History is a process where we engage the past, present, and future on an ongoing basis, attempting to gain knowledge of that which we have been, what we seem to be now, and where we hope or fear we might be heading.  Understanding ourselves  both individually and corporately is a creative act based on material evidence and informed speculation.  Art can function as a deliberate attempt to achieve a particular response from those of us engaged in this search.
 

Barbara Donelson

“Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho”

My inspiration for this piece came from Wesley’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. lecture.  Dr. John W. Kinney was the 2007 guest speaker and he chose to preach on the scripture Joshua 6:1-5.  His sermon title, “Marching On,” brought into focus the many times that people within our community have gone to battle for issues in which they strongly believe.  Dr. Kinney brought up the concept that shutting others out causes us to shut ourselves in.  It took Joshua (with God’s help) to bring down the walls of Jericho.  I think it takes a greater community to transform hate and bring about change.  Included in this piece is a centerpiece, which focuses on the white supremacist literature.  The walls are made of blocks and words from the actual text of the publications.  I chose this to represent Jericho.  Surrounding it are the words from the text of Joshua 6: 1-5, which deals with Joshua and the priests circling Jericho, blowing their trumpets, and the walls came tumbling down.  The trumpet players in this piece are famous African-Americans (both musicians and others.)  I chose to use them to serve as priests who blew the ram’s horns in the story of Joshua.  Following the words from scripture are the words from an African-American spiritual – “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho.”  I hope that we can all be trumpet players in this modern age, bringing about change in our communities and transforming hate.
 

Angela Harris

“Lament”

This project was a meditation on how to respond to racism in our modern context.  I believe in freedom of speech, but I also feel there is a duty to respect the other in our life as equal.  As a woman of faith who is preparing for a vocation in ministry, this project called for a certain level of prophetic response.  I found the prophetic words of wisdom that I was looking for in Desmond Tutu’s prayer, “Litany,” which is written on the seven panels, seven being a number of completion and wholeness.  Unfortunately, the issues of racism and hatred are ancient problems in our world.  I believe they are a form of spiritual sickness – that the person that bears hatred in their heart towards another on the basis of their skin color is in need of healing.  This work has been an exploration or racism, and a prayer for release of all people from the chains of racism.  Science is teaching us that there are not genetic markers for race, that in fact race is a modern construct.  I find hope in this new understanding of humanity.  The blood that is drawn from a donor can be given to any recipient who matches the blood type of the donor.  Humans are more alike than they are different; the labels we give each other have more to say about the one labeling than the recipient.  This project was a deeply emotional one, layered with gut responses, prayer, and reflection.  My initial disgust that an organization could do and say such a thing became layered into this piece alongside my prayers for peace and reconciliation, as well as for justice for those who have been treated harshly because of this group.