Art and its Contributions to the Social Conversation, how one art piece can change an entire perspective.
Art and its Contributions to the Social Conversation, how one art piece can change an entire perspective.
Stan Douglas’ “Penn Station Half a Century” looks at the development and alteration of New York City's iconic Penn Station. This work is comprised of 9 photographs that are grouped into 4 photographic murals mounted on dibond aluminum that measure roughly 68x118 ½ inches that are to be displayed in the New Moynihan Train Hall in New York, which I viewed in an online exhibition along with written and verbal description. The 4 murals either function as a
diptych sets of 2 or a triptych sets of 3. The scale of this work lends to its ability to almost immerse the viewers in the scenes and feel like they are part of it. His other photographic mural of the Gastown Riot focuses on significant moments or events in the time of the specific site they are to be displayed at.
In his work Stan Douglas says it is not so much about the artist, their intention or their story behind the work; he believes that “when the work enters into circulation, it becomes
part of the social conversation, and it can change that conversation, transform that conversation.”[1] I think this work very much does that as It touches on some key moments in the history of the station that are very applicable to today’s conversation. These moments not
only address racial equality and injustices but also stereotypical gender roles, and how the world has developed at such a rapid pace that advancements are quickly replaced with something better. Along with these main contributions to the social conversation it also poses a somewhat laxer comment on transportation and how some forms of transportation have become rarer as new ones have been developed. These points are especially poignant in this work considering it was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the self-isolation orders in Vancouver BC. As throughout this pandemic many issues surrounding racial equality that have been long overlooked have begun to surface and take center stage in the social conversation.
"Penn Station Half a Century” has 2 images which seem to focus on racial equality. In the first photo you see Bert Williams who was the first black man to direct a silent film, to have a Broadway play produced and part of Ziegfeld Follies a series of theatrical productions on Broadway. He is standing at the top of the staircase in Penn Station: it is evening time, so the overall lighting of the photo is rather dim as the station is being lit by the late afternoon sun streaming in and lamps of all shapes and sizes. He is standing in front of a large number of Vaudeville performers as he is organizing them to put on a show for everyone there because they are all stuck at the station for the night because of a snowstorm. Off to the side you can see a set of fire jugglers practicing their craft. Bert Williams has everyone's attention because he has the respect of different artists because he has proved that a black man can be successful in a system that caters to white men while oppressing people of colour. He did this through his anticipation of the Harlem Renaissance and Pan Africanism movement. He wanted to bring attention to the connotations around being a black man in America. With the Black Lives Matter Movement and protests that continue to happen in the States, this piece couldn’t be more relevant to society today. While this piece is historic, it is also contemporary and relevant to the conversations happening in society today as it brings focus to the fact that society hasn’t really progressed as far as we think it has since the 1900s.
The second image shows Angelo Herndon who was an African American labor
organizer from Atlanta who was arrested for insurrection because of the communist literature they found in his hotel room. After his arrest people rallied and petitioned to free him, but bail was set too high for any one person to pay, so people donated and eventually raised enough money to free him. This may not seem like a big deal because he was released, but he was convicted, and sent to prison by an all-white jury, where he remained for 2 years before he was released on bail. His sentence was overturned because it was viewed as a violation of his constitutional rights for free speech. In the image we see Angelo as he walks up the stairs into the Station being greeted by thousands of well-wishers throwing flowers at his feet with people around him as he smiles at being a free man again. This story strikes a chord with today’s society as to how people of colour are sometimes convicted or arrested without rhyme or reason just because they look different than the majority of the population, and they don’t have all the same privileges as others because they are seen as less than just because they are of a different skin tone. If Angelo Herndon had been white they probably wouldn’t have cared half as much about what he chose to read but just because the colour of his skin was different he was seen as a dangerous criminal. People of colour are often viewed as uneducated by society just because they look different, but it does not help as well that society also does not give them priority in the school system either. The American justice system is still just as racist today as it was then, and it continues to incarcerate more black men than anyone else to this day. The story of this labourer can be a lesson for us all: just because you look different, or sound different, doesn’t mean that anything you have to say is anything less than important. It shows that people can band together and support someone as long as they believe in them. It has nothing to do with race, it has to do with character. These 2 stories of racial equality are an example of how far our society likes to think we have come, and how far we have actually gone. Sometimes the truth isn’t as shiny as the curtain it hides behind, but hopefully through these photographic tableaus people can learn and move forward to be better, better than we are now and better than we were then.
raise children and look pretty while taking care of the house, not someone who goes and commits thievery. These misconceptions about women although a bit outdated, and not as relevant to the social conversation today as they were in the past, society has not learned from its past mistakes continues to redo the errors of the past even though women have created spaces for themselves thanks to the Me-Too Movement. So, this image speaks very much to the misconceptions of women and how they are totally wrong as women can be as good at something that mainly men do if not better.
In another set of images, Douglas focuses on the railways and how the station was
seen and used as a place of goodbye, hello, love, innovation, and community. He looks at how the uses of the station fluctuated as rail travel was relevant, and how it was slowly rendered obsolete. This is shown in 3 images that function as a group: the mezzanine of Penn Station on three separate mornings. One morning with a tri motor plane taking up residence in the middle of the floor, one where the trains are in use to send soldiers to war, and finally Penn Station Mezzanine when it had been updated to implement a similar kiosk system to that of the airport to make rail travel faster and more efficient. It is interesting to think how one method comes and replaces another, rendering it, to a degree, obsolete in the eyes of some people. This fluctuation is not only a reflection of the people’s growing need for speed and instant gratification, making what seems like a slower transportation less desirable, but also how the use of a single room can shift in the blink of the eye: from a place of quiet solitude, to a place of goodbyes, hellos, sadness, joy, to a place of innovation, and finally to a place trying to hold on to its relevance in a world that is moving forward without it.
These 3 images not only reflect a world moving by fast, but also make a subtle conversation starter on transportation. This is especially noticeable when comparing the image of the station with the kiosk system that was implemented to help compete with air transportation and the other 2 images that depict an older version of the same area. When comparing them you can see how the station was modernized as they attempted to try to maintain its relevance. Whereas in the other 2 images you see the station as it was originally designed as a place of architecture, history and beauty, something that was meant to stand the test of time against all odds. This is something important to notice, especially because during the pandemic, transportation, especially long-distance travel, has fallen into a fluctuating state of stasis. One minute running and the next not so much, sort of like how the world sees train transportation. Some countries see it as a necessity of travel, while others see it more as a way to transport goods and not necessarily people anymore as air travel is faster. As the world has become more about speed and instant gratification, the simplicity and elegance of train travel has become lost to many, as they only see it as a form of commuting to and from work. The elegance of long-distance train travel with its food cars, sleeping quarters, and comfy seats has become lost to many or seen more as a novelty. Something for the rich or if you have enough money, potentially something to experience when you travel in Europe. This high-end way of travel has been pushed to the side in favour of the faster, more cramped travel of airplanes. It is interesting to think how something that used to be part of everyday life has been rendered into a novelty side show that most people today won’t consider it anymore when the thing that replaced it is not all that better
In“Penn Station Half a Century” you are able to explore the advancements and regressions of industries that have come and gone before us. This work shows us just how far we have progressed but also just how much we are stuck in a time and place that we may like to think has come a long way but in some ways has not moved at all. We may have faster ways of travel, but we still suffer from inequality and racism. In the end the most important thing to take away from Douglas’ work, along with its beautiful execution, is that no matter how far we have progressed there is always room for improvement, and we can always make the world a better place because nothing is ever perfect. If it was, life would be boring.
References
[1] https://montecristomagazine.com/magazine/volume-13/stan-douglas-agrodome-pennsylvania-station
MONTECRISTO Magazine. “How Vancouver Artist Stan Douglas Transformed the PNE Agrodome Into New York’s Penn Station.” MONTECRISTO, 2020, montecristomagazine.com/magazine/volume-13/stan-douglas-agrodome-pennsylvania-station.
“Studio: Stan Douglas.” David Zwirner, 2021, www.davidzwirner.com/viewing-room/2021/studio-stan-douglas.
Wikipedia contributors. “Angelo Herndon.” Wikipedia, 10 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Herndon.
“Ziegfeld Follies.” Wikipedia, 7 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziegfeld_Follies.
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