Last modified: 2022-04-02 by rob raeside
Keywords: flag art |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
"Recoloration Proclamation'' is the project by African-American
multimedia artist John Sims. It was started in 2000 [1] by repainting the
battle flag of the Confederate States of America into the Garvey colors,
soon to be followed by similar repainting of other Confederate flags and
repainting some of them into other color sets, as well as various
repaintings of some flags of other countries which Sims found closely
related to present-day American political situation - most notably, Israel,
a 1998 trip to that country having provided much of initial inspiration not
only for repainting of that country's flag but also to the "Recoloration
Proclamation" as a whole [2]. Several other projects by Sims are considered
parts of the "Recoloration Proclamation", the flag-related ones being the
2004 installation named "The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag" [1, 2,
3], where a Confederate flag was hanging from the gallows, and "Burn and
Bury", a 2015 campaign of ritualistic burnings of the Confederate flag which
would turn into a yearly event, taking place on the Memorial Day [1, 4]. The
flags also made part, although not central, of "The Wedding", the 2016
performance which completed the "Recoloration Proclamation", when the artist
officiated a mock same-sex wedding of one Confederate and one Union
soldiers, each carrying their respective flags [5, 6].
Tomislav
Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav
Todorovic, 15 February 2022
The first of the flags to have been created was the Afro Battle Flag,
sometimes called the AfroConfederate Flag. The design had first appeared on the
bumper stickers in 1999 [1] and the flag itself was made in 2000 [1, 7]. There,
the red field of the Confederate battle flag has remained unchanged, the saltire
and the flag border were repainted into black and the stars and the fimbriations
of the saltire were changed into black; also, the stars orientation varies: the
one in center is upright, while those in bend arms of the saltire point towards
the top hoist corner of the flag and those in the bend sinister arms, towards
the top fly corner [1, 7, 8, 9, 10].
Tomislav Todorovic, 15
February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
Another version of the flag was exhibited in 2006, with the saltire in green
and the stars and saltire borders in black, and no border along the edges [2].
This suggests that Sims was not seeing the original design as a completed work.
Another proof for this is that for some time after "The Proper Way to Hang a
Confederate Flag" had been presented, the exhibitions have included a voting
booth for the visitors to choose between six versions of differently recolored
Confederate battle flags, all of which have had all stars upright and the flag
border was not omitted from them; none of those recolorations was identical with
either of the flags described above, though [9]. Also, at a 2011 presentation of
the "Recoloration Proclamation" in Harlem, NYC [11], a design was presented
which was similar to the flag from 2006, but with a black border all around and
all stars upright; such a flag seems to have never been produced either. It
shall be noted that 2006 is just the date when the flag was viewed, while the
date of creation, which still remains unknown, might differ.
Tomislav
Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
Created in 2002 [7], this flag combines the design of the First National Flag
of the CSA with the Garvey colors [7, 8, 10]. The repainting was done in a
non-uniform way again: a black-red-black triband with a green canton, bearing
seven black stars which point away from the center of the circle they form. The
ratio was 2:3 [7].
Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
This flag was also created in 2002 [7]. Here, the repainting of the Second
National Flag of the CSA into the Garvey colors was done in a uniform way: white
was replaced with black, blue with green, while red was left unchanged [7, 8,
10]. Regarding the stars' orientation, it is hard to tell because they are
either hardly discernible [7] or not discernible at all in the available sources
[8, 10], still the zooming of the available images suggests that they were
oriented just like they were in the Afro Battle Flag. The ratio was 2:3 again
[7].
Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
While there is no creation date of this flag given in the available sources,
it may be assumed that it was created in 2002 as well, because it clearly makes
a set with the previously described two, being a repainted version of the Third
National Flag of the CSA. Also, the ratio and orientation of the stars are
impossible to tell in the available sources [8, 10], but may be assumed to be
the same as in the Afro Second National Flag. The repainting into the Garvey
colors was done here in the same way as in that flag, while the canton was
visibly smaller here [8, 10].
Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
Created in 2000 [7], this flag is a redo of the CSA naval jack, or of the
Confederate flag as it is currently merchandised: ratio of 2:3, recolored as the
Afro Second and Third National Flags, with all stars upright [7, 8, 10, 12].
Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
This name denotes a set of three flags created in 2001, all of them being
repainted versions of the Confederate flag with the ratio of 2:3 and arranged so
that the one on which blue and red are both replaced with black (white is
unchanged) be placed between an all-black and an all-white flag [7, 12]. On the
latter two, the edges of charges were created by heavy stitches [7, 8, 12]. On
the black and white flag, the stars' orientation varied in the same way as on
the Afro Battle Flag [7, 12] and the same can be verified for the all-black flag
[8], so the same may be safely assumed for the all-white flag as well.
Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
The all-black flag from the set described
above was also the part of another similar set, in which it was combined with an
all-red and an all-green flag, on which the charges were made discernible in the
same way [8, 10]. Currently there is no information on when it was created.
Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 15 February 2022
The flag was created in 2002 as part of the installation named "ReVote",
which combined it with the voting booths used in the 2000 presidential election
in Florida [3, 7, 13, 14], making a representation of the artist's view of the
controversies surrounding the event. Here, red and blue of the Confederate flag
with the ratio 2:3 were replaced with orange and green, respectively, while the
stars' orientations were the same as on the Afro Battle Flag [7]. The flag was
also used independently from the installation, hanging at the entrance to the
exhibition, e.g., in Gettysburg on 2004-09-03 [13, 14, 15].
Tomislav
Todorovic, 15 February 2022
Created in 2004 and first presented in Gettysburg in September that year [5],
this flag replaces blue and red with lavender and pink, respectively, while the
saltire fimbriations are covered with white material resembling fur or feathers,
much like the "feather boas" frequently worn by drag queens, and the stars are
made of glittering silvery fabric [2, 5, 13, 14]. There seem to have been two
copies of the flag at the original exhibition [13, 14]. The "drag" design was
probably the one considered the most provoking and most "desecrating" to the
Confederate flag, although the designs in Garvey colors were found not much less
such [5, 16].
[No image created for this one - it seems impossible to
reproduce it like the other flags.]
Tomislav
Todorovic, 15 February 2022
Beside the USA and Confederate flags carried by the "soldiers" at the
"wedding" [6], there may have been another flag related to the event, bearing
13 hearts in pink upon a narrow saltire in very light shade of the same color,
all on white field. However, the only photo currently known [5] does not show
it in use as a flag, but hanging on the wall, between two all-red wedding
bouquets (possibly worn by the soldiers during the "ceremony") and covered with
a long, white, transparent "veil" which extends down to the floor and upon it,
the floor portion also bearing the flowers arranged in a pattern resembling the
Confederate battle flag. While this is clearly a complete installation, no
source was found which would refer to its centerpiece as a flag, so the exact
nature of the object remains open for further research.
[No image
created for this one until it can be determined if it is really a flag.]
Tomislav
Todorovic, 15 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 16 February 2022
Created in 2002 [7], this flag was inspired by Sims' experiences from his 1998 trip to Israel [2]. The repainting of Israeli national flag was done by keeping the field white, while the Shield of David was turned into red and the top and bottom stripes were made black and green, respectively - color set of the Palestinian flag [2, 7, 12, 16]. After the repainted Confederate flag, this one was probably considered the most provoking and "desecrating" [16], in line with the American far-rightist stance on Israel. It is interesting to note that nearly identical flags have appeared in Israel in 2018 and 2020 (see il!ufe.html) although those have kept the ratio of Israeli national flag, while that of the one made by Sims was 2:3 [7]. Most likely, the flags from Israel were created independently from Sims' creation, especially considering the time interval between them, although the connection cannot be completely excluded without detailed research.
This flag was also combined with an installation named "Two Red Flags", in
which two plain red flags (ratio 2:3 as well) were hoisted vertically, the
distance between them allowing the Palestinian/Israeli Flag to be viewed on a
wall farther behind.
Tomislav
Todorovic, 16 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 16 February 2022
Under this name, a set of three flags was created in 2002 as a comment by Sims on contemporary foreign policy of the USA: flags of Iraq (the then version, used 1991-2004), Israel and China were repainted into the colors of USA national flag, using the same shades as found upon it [7].
On the Iraqi flag, black field was repainted into dark blue and green stars
and inscriptions were repainted into an even darker shade of the same color [7].
This particular flag also seems to have been exhibited separately from the other
two [2] and might have actually been the one to have initiated this project, for
the author used to speak about it without mentioning the other two [12].
Tomislav
Todorovic, 16 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 16 February 2022
On the Chinese flag, the field was made white, while the large star was
repainted into blue and small stars into red [7].
Tomislav
Todorovic, 16 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 16 February 2022
On Israeli flag, the stripes were repainted into red, the rest of the flag
having remained unchanged [7].
Tomislav
Todorovic, 16 February 2022
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 16 February 2022
Creation date of this flag is not currently known, but it has been made by
2006, when it was exhibited together with other recolored flags [2]. The flag is
not actually recolored, because the colors of Chinese national flag have been
left unchanged, but the stars were all replaced with the copies, one large and
four small, of McDonald's Golden Arches logo thus
making a visual comment on the changes through which China has been passing.
Tomislav
Todorovic, 16 February 2022
[1] Sarasota Magazine website:
https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/arts-and-entertainment/2020/08/ringling-museum-welcomes-sarasota-artist-john-sims-in-new-residence-program
[2] BOMB Magazine website:
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/john-sims/
[3] "The Proper Way to
Hang a Confederate Flag" at Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Proper_Way_to_Hang_a_Confederate_Flag
[4] Hyperallergic website:
https://hyperallergic.com/382156/on-memorial-day-an-artist-burns-and-buries-a-confederate-flag/
[5] Huffington Post website:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-sims-/the-wedding-a-civil-reuni_b_10347152.html
[6] CNN website:
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/11/opinions/black-america-confederate-rebel-zombie-sims-opinion/index.html
[7] John Sims' website - Presentation of the "Recoloration
Proclamation" flags (no longer accessible since Adobe Flash had been
discontinued):
http://www.johnsimsprojects.com/flagsnew/
[8] John Sims' website -
Slideshow presentation of the "Recoloration Proclamation" project:
http://johnsimsprojects.com/recoloration/
[9] Guernica magazine
website:
https://www.guernicamag.com/john-sims-celebrating-pi-day-with-math-and-art/
[10] Creative Pinellas website:
https://creativepinellas.org/magazine-items/the-world-according-to-john-sims/
[11] Flickr - Photo of John Sims presenting the "Recoloration
Proclamation" in Harlem Stage arts center, on 2011-02-16:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/harlemstage/5488919423/
[12] NBC News
website:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/artist-turns-confederate-flag-symbol-creative-resistance-n380301
[13] Asheville Tribune magazine website:
http://www.ashevilletribune.com/archives/Gettysburg.htm
[14] Newswise
website:
https://www.newswise.com/articles/artist-to-lynch-confederate-flag-at-gettysburg-college
[15] John Sims at YouTube - Exhibition at Gettysburg College on
2004-09-03 (Floridian Rebel Flag visible @0:49-0:53 and @1:41-1:48):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTIavm32-KU&t=60s
[16] Gettysburg
Boycott website:
http://gettysburgboycott.tripod.com/