“Art is a platform where human beings are ready to see what they have in common.”
Unity and belonging are core messages within your work. In a time where the socio-political order is fraught with uncertainty around the world — from the threats of nuclear warfare to the climate emergency — how do you believe art can help mend this feeling of unity within the global community?
I think it’s the glue. It’s the thing that binds us together. It’s difficult to disagree with beautiful color — what is there to disagree about? It’s difficult to disagree about good architecture or a certain sound. For example, hip-hop has done more for race relations that anything else. You get a bunch of different people in the same room and they’re all bobbing their heads to the same beat.
Fashion has done a similar thing. I think fashion has done more for identity politics and race relations than anything else, because you get to wear the same thing — there’s a shared consciousness. If there’s one thing that is important for me about artmaking, is that it is really a platform for shared consciousness, where ideas overlap. Art is a platform where human beings are ready to see what they have in common. You can’t solve a global issue without working together on some level.
The pandemic was a great example of that point.
I think about that all the time: how are we going to do anything if we can’t agree on shit? In order to solve serious issues, e.g. the climate, you have to be able to talk to each other and be on the same level. I think art is the perfect vehicle for that communication.
When you think about the future of humanity, are you ultimately hopeful?
I want to be. It’s funny because I was having a conversation with a homie a few days ago. The conversation was: ‘Do you believe we have the capacity to solve climate change or any other existential threat to humanity?’ My instinctive answer was ‘yes’ immediately, but the question is: will we?
We can, we know we have the capacity to, but will we? We have the technology to create a vaccine in record speed. Will we and can we do it before it’s too late?
If we can actually put ourselves in a position where we’re able to see the beauty in the world, then the beauty is worth saving. The beauty is worth enjoying and preserving for the next generation to come. I’m more optimistic than not.
All artwork by Tavares Strachan. Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery and Perrotin.
