Khan Academy Static

Video Title : Doris Salcedo's "Shibboleth"

Video Description : This video brought to you by Tate.org.uk "Every work of art is political because every work of art is breaking new ground," says Colombian artist Doris Salcedo. In this video, Salcedo explains why she decided to literally break new ground in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall by splitting the floor open with a long snaking crack in her piece Shibboleth. The word “shibboleth” refers to a word or custom that can be used to differentiate one group from another, and is therefore a token of power: the power to judge and reject with violence. What might it mean to refer to such violence in an art museum? For Salcedo, the crack represents a history of racism, running parallel to the history of modernity. As Salcedo comes from a country riven by war, she has always seen conflict and the world from the perspective of the oppressed. The piece is not an attack, but rather a reminder, a question mark and a disruption of the status quo: she invites us to look down into it, and to confront discomforting truths about our world. If you could create some kind of artistic distruption, what would it be? Would it be in a gallery, or on the street? Would it be confrontational or subtle? To learn more about Doris Salcedo, Shibboleth, and other thought-provoking sculptures by the artist, click here.

Video ID : xbac5f316