CARRIE MAE WEEMS: THE LOUISIANA PROJECT Carrie Mae Weems has an indisputable talent for taking history and making it current. Her projects, ranging from The Jefferson Suites to The Hampton Project to From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried, all lay bare truths and circumstance that have resounding implications in our world of displaced identities and moral turpitude. The Louisiana Project, commissioned by Erik Neil, the director of the Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane University, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, is no exception. This multi-media installation is an eloquent representation of how class and race, entrenched politics and self-interest, and poverty and wealth have stained generations of practices and perceptions in and of the south. The Louisiana Project is an installation incorporating still photography, narrative, and video projection as part of an examination of the complex history of New Orleans and the "commingling culture" that has resulted. Through the photographs Weems builds a contextual narrative by starting with portraits of Liberty (a costumed actor dressed as an ass) and Justice (a costumed actor dressed as an elephant). Weems, in another set of images, then places herself in a variety of locations -- plantations, railroad tracks, chemical plants etc. -- as a witness to the experience of African Americans in Louisiana. In several others the subject gazes into a mirror, perhaps symbolizing a reflection upon the region's history as it pertains to roles and sexual identity. All of the work is staged, giving Weems an author's prerogative to interpret and propose the events and circumstances that shaped attitudes about blackness, in particular, black women. The video in turn considers a triad of relationships between white men, white women, and women of color played out as a sort of shadow dance. It is not always clear who wields the power as the role of central character shifts from one individual (notably gender) to another. Finally, 14 canvases capture frozen moments from the video. These shadow figures present enough ambiguity that the implications are variable, often calling upon personal references for context. Weems, however, does not leave it entirely up to the viewer's imagination as the subjects that informed The Louisiana Project reside firmly in the concrete. While the focus of this work is directed toward the particular situation of Louisiana, the implications extend far beyond one state or one region. Issues of race, identity, gender, role playing, and role models have infiltrated every layer of society, culture, and politics. Weems slowly turns the pages as she tells the told and untold stories that, whether focusing on personal or cultural history, trace and encircle African-American culture and heritage, the broadening Diaspora of our multi-racial and multi-cultural world. CURRENT VENUE Museum of the African Diaspora San Francisco, CA Dates: July 27 - Oct 9, 2006 Massachusetts College of Art Boston, MA Dates: Nov 8 - Dec 22, 2006 Hunter Museum of American Art Chattanooga, TN Dates: Jan 27 - Apr 29, 2007 PRESS back to top