4:44

Authors

Matthew Meyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Santiago Cal

Date of this Version

4-2024

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Fine Arts

Major: Art

Under the supervision of Santiago Cal

Lincoln, Nebraska, April 2024

Comments

Copyright 2024, Matthew Meyer. Used by permission

Abstract

As a multimedia artist, I create using practices of painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, and digital methods. The conceptual basis of my work explores the specific relationship between material, process, and idea. 4:44, the title of my thesis exhibition, refers to Jay-Z’s 2017 critically acclaimed album. This album has a lot of influential moments within it; however, one song embodied the ideas that I was researching while at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. “The Story of O.J.” contains different aspects of Blackness, whether how we treat each other, think about the future or just the different skin tones within the community. My thesis exhibition is the culmination of ideas expressed in this song, community engagement projects, and personal experiences. All of these come together to create a moment of education, expression, and truth.

Within the 4:44 exhibition, the placement and materials choices of the works are purposeful. Some ideas call for an in-the-round experience that demands the viewer’s spatial awareness. These works are precariously balance on undersized pedestals or invasive of viewer space through proximity of the two-dimensional works. Other ideas require flat or illusionary spaces. They invite the viewer to enter their space through present but hard to read images. However, there are always moments where both exist. Each material used in the exhibition relates to how I view Blackness and Black identity. I insert meaning into material, they act like afrotropes. An afrotrope is an object or idea that somehow relates to Blackness. Trompe-l'œilness, or the ability to make something appear to be something else, is essential to my work. Plaster becomes a memory or cloning device. Paper and canvas connect past and present with the cotton and labor that comes with them. Wood is challenging and can relate to a certain sense of class, yet whether it can withstand time depends on how you treat it. What do all of these have in common? Everything I use allows me to manipulate it into a sculpture, giving me the freedom to deceive the eye.

My research deals with personal and communal aspects of the Black American experience through vulnerability. Subjects related to apprehension and elation are the two main concepts in the work. These are two separate feelings, yet sometimes they can intertwine. The Black voice is often stifled or spoken for by outsiders. Many things go untaught, unseen, or downplayed.

The work generally aims to inform and educate the community just as much as anyone else. Ambiguity acts like an attention grabber, causing viewers to want to find out more and, in turn, allowing free will to be vulnerable with themselves. When you get into the personal, you realize the in-your-face experience. As a child, my parents and other family members taught me about Blackness through books and stories. The lack of this information throughout school led me to create this way. The small glimpses into the Black experience in school textbooks touched on glimpses. I look to speak on more than just a taste of the Black experience; I want to do it through my lens. I am not the spokesperson for Blackness; however, the incorporation of the multiple allows me to gain different views. Within this, the viewer can see many areas of the Black experience.

Ideas and Inspirations

When creating my work, it all begins with an idea. This idea can deal with an event, theory, need, or personal memory. Books, articles, movies, music, and experiences. I have thought about or been through inspire my research. There is never one specific type of Black person, no specific way to be Black. While I create based on my lens, I touch on multiple aspects of the diaspora.

Interestingly, we all share similarities, including things pertaining to home life, school, worries, joys, dangers, etc. This show compiles all of this. Each work has a story, method, metaphor, and educational aspect.

THE BLACK VOICE

When it comes to history, past or present, within the community, certain aspects still have been kept in the dark and have come to light. You may see outsiders commenting on Blackness as if they know the person better than you. The media also plays a big hand in what is shown today and what was in the past. The news would often show the negatives within the community, almost painting a certain picture of it. Even movies would display a motion of evil or anarchists. With social media acting as the news, we are beginning to see more of the truth of what has happened. Even in film, we see more “educational” ways of displaying Black history. Since we are not taught much of our history in school, it is up to us, young Black adults, to find ways of educating ourselves and others. Education through expression, through reading, and more. Aside from the Black Voice as entity I wanted to touch on the Black Voice as a personal. Within my work I tend to include dialect that acts as not only a conversation within the work but from artist to audience. These can range from my own words, quotes from civil rights leaders, or conversations that I hear. I it is important to my work to combine imagery and verbal’s.

Conclusion

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, vulnerability can be defined as the quality of being vulnerable: able to be easily hurt, influenced, or attacked. As it pertains to Blackness, vulnerability is the ability to allow others to look in and understand. 4:44 is a vulnerable and visual interpretation of Blackness within America though my lens. It is my intention that we can begin to understand things that have happened or are happening through creation.

Advisor: Santiago Cal