Nicholas Galanin, White Noise, American Prayer Rug, 2018
Wool, cotton; 7’3″ x 10′.
Image courtesy of the artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York.
Artist Statement:
White Noise refers to a steady droning tones used to mask or obliterate unwanted sounds, an active dissociation occurring when a signal is gone or lost. Titled for the sources of American political power and media who produce constant noise in support of xenophobia. The work points to whiteness as a construct used throughout the world to obliterate voices and rights of cultures regardless of complexion. Calling attention to white noise as a source of increasing intolerance and hate in the United States as politicians, media, and citizens attempt to mask and obliterate the reality of America’s genocidal past and racist present. The white noise referenced is produced by a kind of whiteness based on more than complexion. This White noise is based on capital, blind belief and faith in itself, and fear of everything outside the lines it uses to enforce inclusion or exclusion. The American Prayer rug is hung on a wall in place of flat screen televisions, as the image accompanying the droning sound we use to distract us from our own suffering, from love, from land, from water, from connection; there is no space for prayer, only noise.