Page 11 - Antennae Issue #52

in in which sometimes one can get lost Dante Alighieri’s decision to to situate the the the the the entry of of hell at at the the the the the edge of of the the the the the the the Selva Oscura (The Dark Forest) and the the the the the the the Surrealist artists who followed Sigmund Freud into the the the the the the the woods to to to to decipher the the the the the the unconscious speak volumes about the the the the the the values western culture has attached to to to to forests forests But Bey’s images of forests forests belong to to a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a different world and and and that’s where their political power lies They They are are ambiguously quiet and and and and and unnervingly enigmatic They They are are simultaneously yesterday and and and and and today—places of temporary shelter for the fugitive slaves dreading to to cross open-lands by by day day day and and and and insurmountable barriers or or or inescapable labyrinths where lives can be lost The sad truth so vividly impressed upon the the silvery surface of Bey’s photographs is not re- motely concerned with with witches and spells swords stuck in in rocks or or or breadcrumbs concealed by the the the the snow It is is neither mythological nor magical Night Falling Tenderly Black is is drenched with with the the the the the pal- pable fear for for one’s own life the the the the the truth of of of utter vulnerability the the the the the oppressive force of of of systemic social injustice and and the the the the most profound loneliness on on on on a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a desperate journey to to to freedom across a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a stranger land that yesterday as today only white people have the the the the right to to to call home The contributions gathered in in in in the the the the second volume of Vegetal Entanglements—a tryptic entirely dedicated to to to plants plants in in in in in in art art and and and culture—focus on on on on on the the the the inextricable actual and and and metaphorical links that that bind plants plants to to to humans It is is is is in in in in in in this context that that the the the the the artists scholars curators and and and and plant plant plant lovers fea- tured on on on on these pages stage and and and analyse original encounters encounters with with the the the the vegetal world they make visible problematize deconstruct and and and recontextualize to show how how encounters encounters with with plants define our lives in multiple and and often unpredictable ways ways As always I’d like to to to thank everyone involved in in in making this issue—from the the the wounderful con- tributors to to to to those who generously lent their time to to to to peer review proofread and assisted along the the the way way Giovanni Aloi
Editor in Chief of AntennaeProject
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Overleaf: Dawoud Bey Forest #17 from “Night Coming Tenderly Black ” 2017 gelatin silver print 44 by 55 inches © Dawoud Bey