Scaffold (sculpture): Difference between revisions

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Artist: Sam Durant

Year: 2017

Date of Action: June 2017

Region: North America

Location: Walker Art Center

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Sculpture

Confronting Bodies: Dakota Elders, Walker Art Center

Description of Artwork: Scaffold, a massive 2012 work by Los Angeles artist Sam Durant intended to create awareness about capital punishment and its historically disproportionate effect on people of color. Scaffold is based on designs for gallows used in seven U.S. state-sanctioned executions, including 38 Dakota men hung in Mankato, Minnesota in 1862.

The Incident: In late May, Minneapolis' Walker Art Center became the center of a heated controversy over Scaffold. Protesters began gathering outside the museum on May 26th, 2017 and remained all weekend. The installation was not discussed in advance with the local Dakota community, and it sparked a protest and demands for it to be destroyed. Much of the native community was extremely offended and upset by the artwork and were very vocal about it. One protester said that "it truly saddens me that in 2017, we still live in a world where the intergenerational trauma of a people can be put on display for the world to see without any consequences." Many offended viewers of the art commented that the "legacy of the white, male monopoly over the historiography of the Dakota War lives on."

Results of Incident: After a meeting with Dakota tribal elders, a determination was made to dismantle the sculpture and burn the wood in a ceremony; Durant pledged to transfer his intellectual property rights to the work to the Dakota tribe. The Dakota Nation then suspended the ceremonial burning until further notice. They eventually chose instead to bury the material.

Source:

June 26, 2017 Dakota elders meet to discuss sculpture’s fate http://www.therepublic.com/2017/06/26/mn-gallows-sculpture-protests-2/

June 25, 2017 Dakota elders meet to ponder fate of 'Scaffold' materials It was dismantled and removed from Sculpture Garden. By Alicia Eler Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/dakota-elders-meet-to-ponder-fate-of-scaffold-materials/430753943/

JUNE 23, 2017 NCAC Responds to the Walker Art Center’s Statement Affirming Decision to Dismantle Controversial Sculpture BY NCAC http://ncac.org/blog/ncac-responds-to-the-walker-art-centers-statement-affirming-decision-to-dismantle-controversial-sculpture

June 20, 2017 Walker Statement in Response to NCAC Statement https://walkerart.org/magazine/walker-art-center-response-national-coalition-against-censorship-scaffold

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 |date_of_action=June 2017
 |location=Walker Art Center
-|description_of_incident=Protestors began gathering outside the museum on May 26th, 2017 and remained all weekend. Much of the native community was extremely offended and upset by the artwork and were very vocal about it. One protestor said that "it truly saddens me that in 2017, we still live in a world where the intergenerational trauma of a people can be put on display for the world to see without any consequences." Many offended viewers of the art commented that the "legacy of the white, male monopoly over the historiography of the Dakota War lives on."
+|description_of_content=''Scaffold'', a massive 2012 work by Los Angeles artist Sam Durant intended to create awareness about capital punishment and its historically disproportionate effect on people of color. ''Scaffold'' is based on designs for gallows used in seven U.S. state-sanctioned executions, including 38 Dakota men hung in Mankato, Minnesota in 1862.
-|description_of_result=After the Walker and Durant met with the Dakota Elders, the artist apologized and signed over the copyright of Scaffold to the Dakota Nation. The Walker agreed to allow the work to be dismantled. Members of the Dakota Nation met and voted to bury the materials.
+|description_of_incident=In late May, Minneapolis' Walker Art Center became the center of a heated controversy over ''Scaffold''. Protesters began gathering outside the museum on May 26th, 2017 and remained all weekend. The installation was not discussed in advance with the local Dakota community, and it sparked a protest and demands for it to be destroyed. Much of the native community was extremely offended and upset by the artwork and were very vocal about it. One protester said that "it truly saddens me that in 2017, we still live in a world where the intergenerational trauma of a people can be put on display for the world to see without any consequences." Many offended viewers of the art commented that the "legacy of the white, male monopoly over the historiography of the Dakota War lives on."
+|description_of_result=After a meeting with Dakota tribal elders, a determination was made to dismantle the sculpture and burn the wood in a ceremony; Durant pledged to transfer his intellectual property rights to the work to the Dakota tribe. The Dakota Nation then suspended the ceremonial burning until further notice. They eventually chose instead to bury the material.
 |image=Ctyp+scaffold+sculpture.jpg
 }}