Response to "Black & Blue" by Jared Thorne              

         In Jared Thorne's Black & Blue exhibition, my immediate response was that his art brought me back in time to when I was in grade school. In Ohio, it was typical to only have one or two African American students in my class in grade school. However, me being caucasian, I did not have the same outsider view as Thorne, therefore, I did not fully realize the significance of his exhibition in the beginning. The exhibition contained large images of different grade school classes that wrapped around the room. All of these pictures contained only one or two African American students, while the rest of the students were caucasian. Another piece in the exhibition was an afro hanging from the ceiling with many different types of hair built into it, with an afro pick stuck in the side. One last piece in Thorne's exhibition was living room set up from the 80's, while a recording of Malcolm X is playing. His voice carries throughout the exhibition while Malcolm X speaks about segregation.
         This exhibition made me wonder what life was like back when I did not understand what segregation was, as well as before my time. The mood of this exhibition was more so lighthearted because of many pictures of innocent grade school students on the walls. Because this mood is not overbearing, it gives the viewer less of a direction with what type of message Thorne wanted to convey. Because of this, I believe many people, including me, were not able to fully understand the powerful significance of each piece. I grew more understanding for this exhibit when Jared Thorne talked about his childhood of being one of the only African American students in his classes. He explained that this situation made him feel not as connected to people as the other students were. He also shared that his parents told him that he was privileged to be able to go to these schools, however, he still felt unhappy and disconnected.
         His drive to create these pieces were to document different times in his childhood and bring to life how disconnected he felt school. Thorne also explained that in grade school, many of his classmates always wanted to touch his hair because it was different from everyone else. His motivation for the afro piece was to bring to life his personal story of how he wanted to fit in at school.  He also shared that he wanted to prove to his parents that he could be an artist, even if that's not what a typical African American achieves to be.
          It was beneficial to hear Jared Thorne speak in relation to his artwork. Hearing his personal stories behind his art brought his exhibition to life. I was also able to better understand the significance of the ongoing issues in the black community. I would not be able to relate to these pictures without his personal stories and ideas about whiteness. I enjoyed that he made light of the whole situation and continues to be a strong individual, while making other people aware of how society is. I think he definitely changed many of the audience's views of the idea of disconnection that many minorities go through each and every day.