"Conspiracy:" A Rejection of Containment (2 points)
A couple of weeks ago, I embarked on a journey through Spelman College’s museum. Each piece of art told a different story, but one piece caught my eye without question: a film. This film, Conspiracy by Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, depicts the containment that occurs within art involving women of color, as well as the rejection of that containment.
First of all, the collaboration between Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Elrich showcases the beauty of relationships among women of color and the contributions they make to all people and to one another. Hunt-Ehrlich’s film expertise and Leigh’s intricate craftsmanship come together to create a beautiful masterpiece that depicts the concept of artistic intellectuality, as well as the unquestionable skills artistic women hold, across all ages and walks of life. More specifically, the film’s black-and-white nature allows the audience to focus on the procedure of sculpting, as well as the cultural significance behind it. The film involves repetitive movements that are involved in the process of sculpting. It was very interesting to see these motions, as they are done with the same hands—the hands of a woman. These hands hold different tools utilized in sculpting, stressing the complexity of every work. The hands and tools work together to write a narrative, to show one’s life, but for a moment. However, that moment is made beautiful, as the work behind it is an art in itself. The process continues to involve machinery, as well as the participation of women of different backgrounds. However, at the very end, one of the pieces of art, a beautiful sculpture of a peaceful woman, was intentionally burned to ashes.
The most essential part of this work was the display of the burning sculpture near the end of the film. The first time I examined this film, this was the section of the film that I walked in on. A magnificent, yet slightly broken sculpture of a woman was being purposefully burned. It was not until I contemplated the containment of art throughout history that I began to understand how this is a rejection of such containment. As women of color, there can be no yielding of power to anyone else dictating what art “should be,” as that is a concept that has been stressed in many time periods. This burning is a type of liberation from the structure that has limited the creativity of female artists. Art does not have to be kept in one little box, without room to grow; there are so many areas to reach and new places to discover that always following the same rules will not result in any change. This is seen in the African diaspora, as Africans all over the world have been able to express their contributions and gifts to benefit the world.
All in all, Conspiracy connects to the importance of gender roles and representation throughout African-descended individuals, including the women who have also paved ways for societal development. Females are not more gentle, or not “fit” to pursue their dreams. The bounds are limitless; no one should be able to control the dreams in someone else’s heart. This film was extremely powerful because it showed that women of color still have the ability to shine in a world dominated by whiteness. The sculpture’s burning at the end of the film shows that we are not limited to the confines of what art should be. The makers of art decide the limits, just as Conspiracy does very effectively.
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