Summer Breeze
Summer Breeze
Artist
Paul Stephen Benjamin
(born 1966)
Date2018
MediumLooped three-channel video installation, color, sound; televisions and cords
DimensionsDuration: 20 minutes
Overall dimensions vary with installation, minimum 120 × 120 in. (304.8 × 304.8 cm)
Overall dimensions vary with installation, minimum 120 × 120 in. (304.8 × 304.8 cm)
ClassificationsInstallation
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2021.1
Accession number
2021.1
On View
On viewCollections
Label Text“If the color black had a sound, what would it sound like?”
—Paul Stephen Benjamin
Paul Stephen Benjamin asks us to reflect on the historical and cultural significance of the color black as it relates to survival and resistance. In Summer Breeze, he combines the 1939 Billie Holiday protest song “Strange Fruit” with Jill Scott’s 2015 rendition of the same song. Their haunting melody, mourning the lynching of Black Americans, is accompanied by footage of a little girl on a swing. [81]
“Si el color negro tuviera sonido, ¿cómo sonaría?”
—Paul Stephen Benjamin
Paul Stephen Benjamin nos invita a reflexionar sobre el significado histórico y cultural del color negro en relación con la supervivencia y la resistencia. En Brisa de verano, combina la canción de protesta de Billie Holiday de 1939 “Strange Fruit” (Fruto Extraño) con la interpretación de Jill Scott de 2015 de la misma canción. Su inquietante melodía, en la que se lamenta el linchamiento de los afroestadounidenses, se acompaña de imágenes de una niña pequeña en un columpio.
