The Weight
November 3 - December 24, 2023
Hailing from Albuquerque, NM, with a returned and expanded visit from this year’s This Is America exhibition, photographer and filmmaker Emmett Williams presents in his 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios solo debut, opening Friday, November 3, 2023, 6-9 p.m. (CST), THE WEIGHT, of his work. Williams’ multimedia installation documenting and projecting 5 years of amalgamated photos and videos of locations throughout the U.S. where Black people were lynched, forces its viewers to be “confronted with the idea that they have never actually properly considered the spaces they daily inhabit”. THE WEIGHT is William’s way of addressing society’s relationship to place, depending on what one knows, doesn’t know, or refuses to admit or acknowledge.
A photo and film documentary project spurred by a road trip to The South, during which a white comrade suggested Williams take photos of gorgeous trees to sell to tourists, Williams noticed a tree on land with the name “plantation” still attached. “I instinctively wondered if a Black person had been lynched there.” From that moment on, Williams could not look at a tree anywhere without wondering if a murder had taken place at that location.
THE WEIGHT interchanges photo stills with film framed by trees and plants, representing the original spaces where the lynchings took place. The works explore the idea of longevity, resilience and timelessness of flora and nature’s indifference to being an accomplice in the horrific acts. The trees captured are a symbol of growth, reach, branching out, communion with the land, but also of dominance when scaled against humans and a reminder of their existence on earth long after we have hatefully destroyed ourselves.
“I’m not trying to reclaim these spaces, nor try to find an inner beauty. My goal is to confront the viewer, suggesting they reconsider their daily reality. I have been working around the world the last 20 years in a wide variety of mediums, but as an African-American with a focus on social justice, I have no choice but to see the world through an anti-racist lens.”
The immersive multimedia experience of THE WEIGHT is viewable until Sunday, December 24, 2023. Williams’ in-person artist talk will occur at 7 p.m. (CST) opening night.
Missed the opening reception talk? Watch here.
