The Unwritten History Project Detail Record

Detail Record for Willie Cole

Event Title: Ten Thousand Mandelas
Series Title:
Location: Franklin Furnace
Date: 5/27/1988 - 6/25/1988
Event Type: Installation

Event Documentation:

Ten Thousand Mandelas	Ten Thousand Mandelas	Ten Thousand Mandelas

Artist Statement: INSTALLATION: Ten Thousand Mandelas (description) Ten Thousand Mandelas is a cumulative Juju. It gains "asche" or power through repetition. Not just repeated action but repetition within each action in the form of both imagery and sound. There are two basic components to Ten Thousand Mandelas;. 1. The Mandela Mask 2. The Mandela Chant. The Mandela Mask is a xerographic image of Nelson Mandela, the South African freedom fighter currently serving a life sentence in a South African prison. The mask is obviously a symbol of his struggle against Apartheid as well as a symbol of solidarity with his cause. It also suggests confinement and isolation. Everyone viewing this installation will be asked to wear the mask and in doing so will heighten the experience of oneness (or only-ness) for everyone and anyone else who wears the mask. Note: Mandela is, and has been during most of his years in prison thus far, kept in solitary confinement. The mask will also be attached to hundreds of life size cardboard silhouette cutouts that will stand in maze like formation throughout the installation. Coin sized Mandela masks, like leaves, will cover the floor. An electronically generated image of the mask will flash alternately with various groupings of the word "Mandela" on an 8 by 8 foot screen. A video monitor will imitate a news program where all the announcers, guests and newsmakers wear the Mandela mask. Their dialogue, with all the inflections of a major newscast will be made of only one word, "Mandela" in repetition. The word or name "Mandela" is the second basic component of this installation. It's appearance periodically as a projected image only punctuates the sometimes ambient sometimes over-powering hypnotic Mandela Chant. The chant, numerous layers of voices on a tape loop, plays constantly. In summation, I will say that Mandela, both name and image will be applied to as many things as possible and in as many media as possible. Newspapers, books and magazines will all be "Mandela-ed". Imagine every model in Vogue, every cowboy in Marlboro country wearing the Mandela mask. All of us, even you could/should/would be a potential Mandela.

Bio:

Press Release: April 15, 1988 Press Contact: Martha Wilson, Director (212) 925-4671 FRANKLIN FURNACE ANNOUNCES A WINDOW INSTALLATION By Willie Cole "Ten Thousand Mandelas" Openings, may 27, 1988, 6-8 PM May 28-June 25, 1988 (extended): Tuesdays-Saturdays, 12-6 PM "Ten Thousand Mandelas" addresses Apartheid by mourning the South African government's incarceration of Nelson Mandela. Newark artist Willie Cole will install hundreds of life-size cardboard cutout figures in bundles, all wearing the face of Nelson Mandela. The installation is accompanied by an audiotape, Cole's "Mandela Chant", a hypnotic, ambient repetition of the name "Mandela". Willie Cole holds a B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts, and has participated in several group and solo shows throughout New York and New Jersey. He is currently preparing for an upcoming one-person exhibition at the Little John-Smith Gallery in N.Y.C. Franklin furnace gratefully acknowledges support for its Emerging Artists Installation Series from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Art Matters, Inc. Founded by artist Martha Wilson in 1976, and still run by artists today, Franklin Furnace is a museum in the avant-garde tradition which presents and preserves artists' books and multiples produced after 1960 by the international community of artists. As "The Last W - O - R - D in Museums," Franklin furnace exhibits the historical avant-garde, and launches its future by presenting performances and installations by emerging artists.

Proposal Information:

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