Black Cotton Flag Made In Georgia
Date2018
MediumBlack cotton and black thread
Dimensions168 × 324 inches (426.7 × 823 cm) (14 x 27 feet)
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds provided by the Jack W. Lindsay Acquisition Endowment Fund.
Object number2018.9
Copyright© Paul Stephen Benjamin.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label Text“I’ve worked with this idea of black—the color black—for the last 14 years. I am not trying to make this about identity politics or to change things. Is this about identity? Is it about how I look or how I view things? I may be allowing people to see that, but I am not trying to change someone’s thoughts. … There is no right or wrong way to digest the material. … I enjoy it when people bring their own perspectives to the work … as opposed to me dictating what they’re supposed to see.”
Many contemporary artists have, over the past century, looked to the American flag as an iconic symbol to appropriate and reinterpret while creating new meaning. But how does an American flag as an object differ from an image of a flag or from an artistic interpretation of a flag? Does a flag intended as art need to uphold the same customs and traditions as an actual flag? Benjamin’s Black Cotton Flag explores this dilemma—borrowing the flag’s imagery and symbolism, and all of its loaded context, for his own artistic purpose.
By appropriating the United States’ most visible national icon—a symbol recently animated by incendiary discussions of race and patriotism—Benjamin’s Black Cotton Flag commands attention, not only because of its impressive physical scale, measuring at 14 by 27 feet, but also because it generates conversation about national symbols: who creates them, who they speak for, who identifies with them, and what they say about how each of us belong and the values they represent. And yet, beyond any of this context, Benjamin’s flag is simply what he declares it is—a black cotton flag made in Georgia.
