ANASTACIA TOLBERT

The Fabric of Our Lives is an interactive, interdisciplinary, interrogation of history. It seeks to visually display the systemic baggage (dirty laundry) of slavery as it relates to the: disconnection of the body, hyper-sexualization of the body, de-sexualization of the body, forced conformity, negativity passed down through DNA, untrue stories stained on post 13th Amendment African Americans, and painfully true stories the body holds as a sacred text—soiled memory which includes and/or is inclusive of the subliminal message to be bleached.

 

This installation explores the lega-cized and internalized trauma that exist as a result of our nation’s history of enslavement. We, all American citizens and residents, consciously and subconsciously inflict this abuse on ourselves and each other through words and deeds. As a result, our collective transition to freedom is a continuous struggle. This year marks 150 years since the 13th amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States (December 6, 1865); yet, slavery still affects attitudes about race, gender, and sex that penetrate all parts of American society. One hundred and fifty years later, how does the legacy of slavery affect our present, our memories,

and our bodies—all of our bodies?