Essay
Lynching tree
- Module
- History of art (HA315)
- Institution
- The University Of Kent (UKC)
this essay is about the photograph. Named the lynching tree by director Steven McQueen
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In this essay I will be looking at lynching tree by Steve McQueen and I will be analysing its significance for myunderstanding of contemporary art in general. I will be looking at the photograph in depth and I will be looking at
how it sheds light on the past and how it furthers my understanding of the history behind it and how I can link it to
my understanding and my knowledge of contemporary art. Key aspects of the photograph that I will be looking at
are details in the foreground and background as well as the colour scheme in the photograph. I will also be talking
about what I think the details in the photograph might suggest as well as my initial thought of the photograph itself.
Lynching tree was created in 2013 using a light box with colour transparency. The history behind the tree is long
though looking at it you wouldn't be able to see the Heinous atrocities that happened on and around this very site.
The tree itself was used to Lynch African American slaves near New Orleans, a southern state in the United States of
America. Lynching was quite common among the African American slaves in America, it was very heavily used until
around the 1960s during the end of segregation. The surrounding areas by the tree roots are filled with unmarked
graves from those who had lost their lives due to lynching, McQueen helps tell the Stories of the countless lives that
will last to this heinous act Answer to buried in the mass graves on the ground surrounding the tree. The stories’ are
rich and full of culture as the slaves were from all over the African continent but their end all happens the same way,
the final chapter of their stories are identical in death. ‘It can be seen as a Story of early 19th century British
imperialism as I direct image of atrocities in the Deep South.‘ (the Guardian 2015) McQueen came across this tree
while scouting for Locations to use for his film; 12 years a slave which depicts a Free man of colour who was tricked
and kidnapped. He was then forced into a life of slavery for 12 years. A very similar tree to the one photographed
can be seen in the film with a slave who has been lynched hanging from it.
The photographs look’s quite grainy like it was pulled from a scene in a film. The image itself looks like a photograph
taken at the height of the civil rights movement, the quality mimics the quality of the photos taken of leading civil
rights activists. The Colours used in the photograph are not completely vibrant, they’re quite dull. The main colours
that stand out are Brown, green and white. You can almost feel a sense of foreboding Looking at the photograph.
When I first saw it and before I knew the history. Behind it, I got a very eerie feeling, the sight of the tree made me
feel very uneasy. After learning of its history, a feeling I can only describe of rage and devastation washed over me.
The colour scheme in the photograph gives it a very sombre feel as if it is meant to make you sad. You can no longer
see the marks that's the rope left from the lynching, It has healed after a long time of not being used for said acts.
lynching is also present in today's society but it's not very common or not very common in the media. Art can expose
the horror of the past and it can bring light to it; As McQueen has done here. There is it rather large clearing around
the tree trunk which gives it the sense that nothing grew on the final resting places of those who were lynched. In
default background we can see that the Sky is a greyish white colour but in the foreground we can see that the sun is
breaking through the trees and shining onto the clearing, this gives it a sense that the lives taken smiling down upon
McQueen as he takes the picture. Although there are no people in the painting you still get a sense of how powerful
the image is just by looking at it. It's almost as if you can hear the voices of the many people who lost their lives at
the hands of their owners/oppressors. “It evokes history so effectively without any people in it.”(art net
2015) The lynching tree has also worked its way into modern media, Bing used as a background in performance by
rapper Kanye West at the MTV Music Awards. Steven Queens the lynching tree has brought up past
issues that many contemporary artists do in their artwork. He points out the brutality that African
American slaves faced just for existing, Not many artists point out issues the are faced in
present day that we're faced almost 200 years ago.
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