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I am a visual artist,
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and I make revolutionary art to propel history forward.
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I'm going to come right out and tell you something:
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I don't accept the economic foundation,
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the social relations
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or the governing ideas of America.
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My art contributes to fundamental change
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by encouraging an audience to address big questions from that perspective.
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Social change is hard, but ideas matter tremendously.
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When I say I'm an artist, most people think, "Oh, he's a painter."
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Behind me, you can see some of the kind of work I do.
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"Imagine a World Without America" is a painting,
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but I work in a range of media,
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including photography, video and performance art.
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A current project, "Slave Rebellion Reenactment,"
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is going to be reenacted on the outskirts of New Orleans
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this November.
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In 1989, I had an artwork that became the center of controversy
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over its transgressive use of the American flag.
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"What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag?"
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is a conceptual work that encouraged audience participation.
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It consisted of a photo montage that had text that read,
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"What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag?"
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Below that were books that people could write responses to that question in,
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and below that was a flag that people had the option of standing on.
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The photo montage consisted of images of South Korean students
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burning American flags,
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holding signs that said, "Yankee go home. Son of a bitch,"
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and below that were flag-draped coffins coming back from Vietnam.
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People wrote long and short answers.
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Thousands of people engaged with the work in a lot of different languages.
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Some of the people said,
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"I'm a German girl.
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If we Germans would admire our flag as you all do,
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we would be called Nazis again.
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I think you do have too much trouble about this flag."
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"I think that the artist should be returned to his heritage,
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i.e., the jungles of Africa,
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and then he can shovel manure in his artistic way."
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"This flag I'm standing on stands for everything oppressive in this system:
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the murder of the Indians and all the oppressed around the world,
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including my brother who was shot by a pig,
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who kicked over his body to 'make sure the nigger was dead.'
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That pig was wearing the flag.
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Thank you, Dread Scott, for this opportunity."
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"As a veteran defending the flag,
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I personally would never defend your stupid ass!
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You should be shot!" -- US Navy Seal Team.
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As you can see, people had very strong reactions about the flag then,
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as they do now.
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There were demonstrations of veterans in front of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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They chanted things like,
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"The flag and the artist, hang them both high,"
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evoking images of lynching.
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I received numerous death threats,
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and bomb threats were phoned in to my school.
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It was a very dangerous situation.
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Later, President Bush called the work "disgraceful,"
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which I viewed as a tremendous honor,
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and Congress outlawed the work.
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(Laughter)
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I became part of a Supreme Court case when I and others defied that law,
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by burning flags on the steps of the Capitol.
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That action and the subsequent legal and political battle
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led to a landmark First Amendment decision that prevented the government
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from demanding patriotism be mandatory.
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But let me back up a bit.
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These people literally wanted me dead.
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What I would do at this moment would make a difference.
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This is me at the exact same moment,
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eight stories above that crowd.
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It was supposed to be for a photo shoot
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that was going to take place on the steps where the veterans were at that time.
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It wouldn't have been safe for me to be there, to say the least.
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But it was really important to do that shoot,
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because while some wanted to kill me, it was also a situation
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where those who viewed the American flag as standing for everything oppressive
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in this system
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felt that they had a voice,
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and that voice needed to be amplified.
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The point is this:
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changing anything --
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whether it's conventional ideas about US national symbols,
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traditional thinking challenged by scientific breakthroughs
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or ousting an authoritarian president --
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requires a lot of things.
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It requires courage,
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luck
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and also vision and boldness of action.
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But on luck --
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I have to say, the photo shoot we did might not have worked out so well.
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We laughed after we were out of the area.
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But the thing is, it was worth the risk
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because of the stakes that were involved.
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And in this case, the luck led to a wonderful,
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profound and powerful situation
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that was also humorous.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)