{"id":4674,"date":"2019-01-08T16:52:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T16:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=4674"},"modified":"2019-01-09T13:54:38","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T13:54:38","slug":"prepare-for-arrival-michi-meko-at-moca-ga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=4674","title":{"rendered":"Prepare for Arrival: Michi Meko at MOCA GA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prepare for Arrival: Michi Meko at MOCA GA<\/h2>\n
By Shantay Robinson <\/span><\/pre>\n
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Michi Meko by Julian Plowden<\/p><\/div>\n
While Michi Meko was the only black person camping with his cohort, his love for nature made his California outdoors residency profound in creating his latest work <\/span>It Doesn\u2019t Prepare You for Arrival,<\/span><\/i> currently at Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia (MOCA GA) until January 26.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/i>The title of the show is very telling of his experience being out in the wilderness without the comfort of community. \u00a0He is an avid fisherman, but leaving Atlanta\u2019s heavily black population and traveling to scarcity of black presence in California was jarring for him. Being the only black person on the trip, Meko realized his identity in a way that he takes for granted living in city like Atlanta, stating, \u201cI felt in some ways isolated. I was very curious about — would I see another black man or woman in the space that I\u2019ve already sort of thrust my own ideas onto.\u201d Through his research of the locale, Meko was made hyperaware of how the space he would share with his contemporaries his marked differently for him and them. <\/span><\/p>\n
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When Meko applied for a residency in California that would place him with other artists outdoors, he thought, due to his interest in fishing and camping, which were developed as a Boy Scout, he was in for a free camping trip. But the experience of being accepted into the residency afforded him an opportunity to think about his blackness in relation to the outdoors instead. When he did research on the part of California where he would camp out, he realized that it was a red state, and the people who lived in the area had voted for Donald Trump who had just been elected into office. Meko became apprehensive. He says, \u201cIt\u2019s like after you look at a place and then where we were headed politically, where the country was headed politically, what we\u2019ve all seen of that direction and then that being new and fresh, that signaled for me you may need to protect yourself beyond sticks and rocks.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n
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But Meko did not allow this marked space to dictate what he would find in nature. His goal was to find out how nature would influence his voice in an intentional way. He wanted to know how his voice would be different or similar to the white male voices who dominate the narratives about nature. \u201cI just was looking for my own voice in nature because when you read about nature\u2026it would always be from a white male\u2019s voice, and so I began to wonder\u2026what does that voice sound like from a black perspective? Is it any different?\u201d Meko admits he\u2019s still not sure how his voice is impacted by nature, but his paintings tell a different story. <\/span><\/p>\n
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When Meko speaks about his voice, he\u2019s also thinking about his black contemporaries who are exploring nature and publicizing their voyages, so that black people will know they are as welcomed in nature as any other people. He mentions, \u201cThere\u2019s another artist Ingrid Pollard that was doing this sorta kinda examination of identity in nature. And she\u2019s in the UK. She\u2019s an African in London. And I bought books just to make sure that I\u2019m not crazy and there are other black people that are interested in nature, which I know, but it was just something I wanted to explore for myself.\u201d Of course, Meko will have a voice distinct from others who write about nature from a black perspective. During his residency, the camp was positioned between very significant monuments. He was existing between Mount Whitney, one of the highest peaks in America and Death Valley, one of the lowest points in this country. He was placed between Alabama Hills, named for the confederacy and The Ashram, a site for rejuvenation and retreat. He felt stuck in the middle. It seems like Meko was stuck in a space where black people exist in this country overall. Yes, there are rights for all citizens of this country to live fruitfully, but without a justice system to enforce these rights, black people stuck in the middle. <\/span><\/p>\n
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