We Love to Watch
New work in progress. . .
Writer and lyricist, DeQawn Mobley, a former NFL player and conceptual artist April Banks, team up on "We Love to Watch," a photo-installation and collection of essays. The photos focus on sports moments that are taken out of context, stripping away layers to reveal the absurd—the violence and commodification of the athletic black male body.
The symbols of milk and watermelon were sparked by a milk bath scene from the 1970s political comedy, "Watermelon Man.” While not intending a literal meaning that milk is white and watermelon is black, but that milk is an ideology, a change agent, a stimulant and depressant. Using the historically racially charged symbol of the watermelon, this work explores Mobley’s experience as a collegiate and NFL player and its well debated parallels to the slave trade. Going beyond a first-person narrative, Banks and Mobley explore what it means to be reduced to a game time object on the field, watched and “loved” by millions.
Writer and lyricist, DeQawn Mobley, a former NFL player and conceptual artist April Banks, team up on "We Love to Watch," a photo-installation and collection of essays. The photos focus on sports moments that are taken out of context, stripping away layers to reveal the absurd—the violence and commodification of the athletic black male body.
The symbols of milk and watermelon were sparked by a milk bath scene from the 1970s political comedy, "Watermelon Man.” While not intending a literal meaning that milk is white and watermelon is black, but that milk is an ideology, a change agent, a stimulant and depressant. Using the historically racially charged symbol of the watermelon, this work explores Mobley’s experience as a collegiate and NFL player and its well debated parallels to the slave trade. Going beyond a first-person narrative, Banks and Mobley explore what it means to be reduced to a game time object on the field, watched and “loved” by millions.
