Post-Post Black: Senam Okudzeto in Basel

"Post-black" was shorthandfor post-black arty which was shorthand for a discourse that couldfill volumes. For me, to approach a conversation about "black arty" ultimately meant embracing and rejecting the notion ofsuch a thing at the very same time.1 .k J mm Senam Okudzeto in Basel Courtney J. Martin I K J B U C H HAS BEEN MADE ABOUT THELMA GULDEN'S NOW INFA- • • • B m o u s PHRASE FROM LAST YEAR, "POST-BLACK." POST-BLACK WAS I W I THE CATCH PHRASE THAT DESCRIBED, IN SUM, A SEEMINGLY INDEFINABLE GROUP OF YOUNG BLACK ARTISTS. POST-BLACK ENCOMPASSED THE ENTIRE WORLD OF CURRENT ARTISTIC BLACKNESS WITHOUT BEING LOADED WITH ACADEMIC, OR THEMATIC, CONSTRUCTS LIKE TRANSATLANTIC o r POST-COLONIAL. POST-BLACK GAVE NAME TO WHAT HAD BEEN UNSPOKEN, BUT UNDERSTOOD, f o r OVER TEN YEARS, THE BLACKNESS OF BLACK ARTISTS (AND THEIR LACK OFWIDESPREAD ACCLAIM, DESPITE SPURTS OF INDIVIDUAL STARDOM OR CONTROVERSY). FOR GOLDEN IT REFERENCED AN ENTIRE BODY OF WORK AND ARTISTS THAT WAS UNLIKE THE BLACK (WORK AND ARTISTS) THAT PRECEDED IT. YET THE TENSION WAS EVIDENT IN THE WAY THAT THESE ARTISTS TOYED WITH ELEMENTS OF ART THAT HAD PRECEDED THEM IN CHRONOLOGY, ART THAT MADE USE OF OVERT ASSERTIONS OF RACE a s A MANIFESTATION OF REPRESENTATION AND IDENTITY. THESE FORMER ARTISTS EVOLVED FROM POLITICAL CRITIQUES o f CIVIL RIGHTS, EMPOWERMENT AND JUSTICE INTO FLAMBOYANT ASSAULTS OF IDENTITY, PLACE, SEX AND RECOGNITION. THE ARTISTS THAT GOLDEN LABELED AS POST-BLACK CAN NOT ALTER THE AFFECT o f THE PAST, YET THEY ARE AFFLICTED BY THE PUBLIC'S NEED t o REFER TO THEIR RACE, A FACT THAT HAD NOT Long Distance Lover ( d e t a i l ) , §p>a c r y l i c o n B r i t i s h T e l e c o m p h o n e bills, 8 ' x 1 0 ' , 1 9 9 9 - 2 0 0 1 5 4 • N k a J o u r n a l o f C o n t e m p o r a r y A f r i c a n A r t y WE 6 V 13 Mat i C M V ' V . International call* continued \ M i 1 5 M.ii IS M ii IS Mar ISA 9 7 2 3 9 6 1 8 6 2 8 9 7 2 3 9 6 1 4 3 5 8 1 6 1 6 3 7 3 4 4 6 2 1 4 8 5 1 3 3 6 3 1 4 8 3 2 1 7 2 2 0 K X k 4 5 ft02 54 0 04 50 Dill 2 4 0:01.JO 0 : 1 0 : 4 8 0:0202 0.01:58 0:00:49 0.08 0 1 0 9 7 1 3 7 1 0 0821 0 . 0 9 4 6 . ' m i I o , k > 4 4 . 5 7 2 438 I 0 . 0 5 2 . 5 C 7 0 . 4 7 6|j612| ! 427 0 . 0 4 8 :. I 0 . 0 8 1 b (j80 5 6 8 1 1." 771| o 71 0 . 8 : 0 . 3 1 1 1 i M S l 5 1 ( ^ 1 to Mar 0 8 : lb Mar 0 0 : i 16 Mar 0 9 ? 16 Mar 0 9 . ' lb Mar 10 Mar 16 Mai it, Mar lb Mai Kenya Kenya luM,n ib.ili Kenya lb Mai 10.44 Kenya lb Mai 1 0 : 4 b K V n v a : (64 K i 4 2 2 t > 4 2 ! > 4 l 1 2 2 1 5 3 0 2 5 4 1 1 2 2 1 5 3 6 2 5 4 2 2 2 0 0 2 4 2 5 4 1 1 2 2 1 5 3 6 2 5 4 2 2 2 8 2 0 2 2 5 4 2 7 2 5 7 . 1 5 0 : 0 1 : 2 . 1 0 : 0 0 . 1 9 0 : 0 1 : 4 2 0 : 0 0 . 1 8 0 . 0 0 : 0 2 ) . 0 0 I 0 35 I I...