Cornered

I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art today (Target FREE Tuesdays-- whew!) and had the great opportunity to view one of my favorite artists' pieces. Adrian Piper, one of the most important artists and scholars in contemporary art and philosophy, created a video installation in the late 80s called "Cornered", which is a confrontation with the viewer about racial identity. Piper's video is a 16 minute monologue of her reciting her proclamation of being black. With a consistently calm and pleasant tone of voice, she expresses her point of view as identifying herself as black but also questions the viewer's reactions to her statement. Much of her performance refers to the viewer's personal responsibility and reaction to the realization of their black ancestry and racial identity. She challenges the viewer by injecting wonder about social reasoning for the acceptance or denial of the outcome of the question of their racial identity. She unloads many assumptions associated with identifying as black, and what that means to others or the public when it is announced.
The impact the work has in its physical space in the museum setting is immeasurable. The video is placed in the corner of the room and in front of a section of chairs, much like a small lecture group. In this setting, the audience has the opportunity to sit and reflect bold interrogations made by Piper, and are subject to her forceful assignment of self exploration. The environment in the museum makes the piece affective in many ways. The void of her physical presence restrains her subjects from engaging in discussion. Those who take an interest usually engage in quiet contemplation but are also visibly intrigued by the artist's accusations. The absence of the actual person or speaker also allows for uninterested or people made uncomfortable by her accusations to leave without disturbing the presenter. They, in turn, become part of the performance wherein Piper presupposes that there will be some people who are disturbed by her presentation or more so the reality of confronting their racial identity.
If you are able, I recommend going to the MCA to see this intriguing art piece. If not, here is a link to the video I found online: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6756190809617046211