The Whiteness House – tarred and feathered

Model and Proposal exhibited at AMP Gallery, Provincetown, July 14-27, 2017
Santa Fe Art Institute Residency, Oct-Nov 2017

The Whiteness House – tarred and feathered
 
Color can play tricks on us. What we see is not always what we get. And what we think is not always what we see. Is seeing the same as perception? Is white the binary of black? Can white exist without black?
 
The White House. The Whiteness House. The nation’s home takes on an ominous presence with a white President who has defined much of his Presidency based on color – following a black President. How white is a Whiteness House after a black President? How does a white house express its whiteness?
 
The Whiteness House – tarred and feathered proposes to build a walk in scale model of the White House, tar and feather the exterior, and activate it collaboratively with other artists, performers and filmmakers..
 
Tarring and feathering is a form of public humiliation used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and on the American frontier, mostly as a type of mob vengeance. It is meant to humiliate and severely criticize a person.

​​We ask, Who is getting tarred and feathered: The American people, owner’s of the home? By the present tenant? Or, is someone else doing the tarring and feathering?

​Perhaps, We, the People?
 
Artists and others will be invited to collaborate with the artist to activate the structure and its interior with installations, multi-media performances, meditations, videos, interventions, ritual, readings, dialogue, dance and music. This project is about redemption and transformation and how we harness the great divide.

Ideas of whiteness to experiment with include: White Cube; White Christmas; White Flight; Shades of White; Whitewash; Snow White; Whitelash; Whitewater; White Russian; White, Whiter, Whitest; Whiteout; White Race Films; White Supremacy; White Elephant; White Whale; Black & White mixed race films; White Alert; People of Color Films; White Lite; White Collar; Lily-White; White Rainbow; White Lightening; Whitened Teeth.