Exhibition Review: Born in Flames: Feminist Futures
Lizzie Borden, Born In Flames, 1983. 90 minute film, projection. Courtesy of the Artist
Written by: Trevor Bishai
As the realities of capitalism and patriarchy blind our view of an ideal world, artists often take on the task of imagining ideal futures. Celebrating femme-identifying and nonbinary contributions to social justice, The Bronx Museum of the Arts presents a critical examination of current struggles for justice through the lens of futurisms. Curated by Jasmine Wahi, the museum’s Holly Block Social Justice Curator, Born in Flames: Feminist Futures reaffirms the possibilities the current moment presents for radically reimagining our society.
Featured in the show are several works by Tourmaline, the artist, writer, and activist formerly known as Reina Gossett. Tourmaline’s artistic practice, which includes both photography and film, is rooted in imagining new histories through historical critique. Her short film, “Salacia,” is set in Seneca Village, a community in Manhattan that was established for freed African-Americans in the nineteenth century. Seneca Village was one of the few places in the city where Black people could vote or own land, but was destroyed in 1855 in order for the government to create Central Park. In order to create this film, Tourmaline did extensive archival research on Seneca Village, reaffirming her commitment to using history as a means of interpreting possible futures.
Tourmaline, Summer Azure, 2020. 30 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the Artist
Tourmaline’s photographs also address imagined futures through the lens of the past. For “Summer Azure” and “Coral Hairstreak,” both from 2020, Tourmaline returned to Seneca Village, setting these self-portraits in an imagined part of the historical community. In these images, Tourmaline wears an astronaut’s helmet and a patched-together dress, and stands in front of a cornfield before launching off into space—“Coral Hairstreak” depicts her on the ground, while she is flying upwards in “Summer Azure.” According to the artist, this series is an homage to the transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, who said in an interview that she was “getting on a spaceship, blasting off, and visiting the planet Virgo.” With this, Tourmaline pays her respects to past generations of activists, while at the same time showing the possibility for dreams to be realized in our current moment.
For both Johnson and Tourmaline, the idea of blasting off into space is an affirmation of how it will not require material or technical innovation to mend our social ills, but rather a radical change of priorities and social organization. In the words of Tourmaline, we must “use what no longer serves us as the fuel for our rocket ships, allowing us to blast off into what we really want.” For social-justice-oriented artists, in order to create a better world, we must not wait passively for this change to come, but actively engage with “what no longer serves us.”
Tourmaline, Coral Hairstreak, 2020. 30 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the Artist
As the “fuel” for realizing dreams, the material wealth of the present moment is used quite literally in another work from the show. Extending over fifty feet long, “When the River Meets the Sea” is a woven archival inkjet print on vinyl, created by the Brazilian artist Clarissa Tossin. “When the River Meets the Sea” is an excerpt from a larger series by Tossin which references the relationship between the natural world—signified by the Amazon River—and the world of commodities we inhabit today. In this series, Tossin wove baskets out of Amazon.com boxes, referencing the juxtaposition between indigenous Amazonian cultures and the massive corporation that takes its name from them. The weaving on display at The Bronx Museum includes imagery of some of the largest rivers in the world, referencing the way in which international trade has colonized indigenous regions.
By using materials from the commercial world to create a subversive work of art, Tossin reaffirms Tourmaline’s treatise on using the materials of the current world—our physical, intellectual, and technological capacities—to create a better world. Today, we know quite well “what no longer serves us,” but argue over how to fashion a more just society. At Born in Flames, while acknowledging the nuance and difficulty of struggles for justice, each artist reminds us that the tools we need for this struggle are right in front of us; it’s only a question of what to do with them.
This exhibition will be on view through September 12, 2021. Learn more here.
