Poetry and Art
Exploring ‘Citizen: An American Lyric’
Through the Art of Kate Clark
Inside award winning Claudia Rankine’s book, “Citizen: An American Lyric”, the fusion of poetry and visual art takes center stage, offering a thought-provoking connection between words and imagery. Inside this literary canvas, artist Kate Clark’s “Little Girl” creation adds a visual layer that resonates on a deeper, more visceral level.
As one of the most captivating visual pieces in the book, the 2008 sculpture by the Brooklyn-based artist explores the tension between humanity and dehumanization. This piece reflects her thematic exploration of the primal connection between humans and animals. There is a level of dissonance that explains how the piece both attracts and disgusts.
“Perhaps your word, extimate, could live and function here.”- Claudia Rankine
Clark’s “Little Girl” aims to evoke a primal reaction, inviting viewers to delve into animal skin’s porous and oily features — reminiscent of human characteristics. Her approach seeks to dignify and make her art approachable, fostering a connection with the face and, subsequently, the entire form. It allows for the viewer to connect with the piece in a way that feels familiar.
Rankine, in an interview with Lauren Berlant, described her connection to Clark stating,
“Kate Clark’s Little Girl and Wangechi Mutu’s Sleeping Heads were both important for me to get the rights to use in Citizen because they performed, enacted, and depicted something ancient that I couldn’t or didn’t want to do in language.”
Clark delves into the dichotomy of human-animal relationships in her artist’s statement. She highlights how humans simultaneously dominate, and care for animals. This duality becomes a focal point, emphasizing contradictions to prompt inner contemplation and unlearning. Clark’s ultimate artistic goal is to unify by understanding and embracing differences.
The New York Times hails Clark’s work as “Successful works of visual theatre,” with her piece “Matriarch” earning the label of
“Particularly unsettling.”
These descriptions align with Rankine’s intentions in “Citizen.” Like Rankine’s poems, Clark’s art aims to unsettle audiences, pushing them beyond their comfort zones. Both artists eschew the first person “I” in favor of the immersive “you,” intensifying the reader’s connection to each narrative.
Clark’s “Little Girl” lives on page 19 where an account of a racist interaction is described, amplifying the tension created by Rankine’s words. The poem narrates an incident where a trauma client, mistaken for an intruder, encounters immediate hostility from a therapist. The imagery within Rankine’s lines draws parallels with Clark’s art, creating a seamless synergy. Quoted from the book,
“When the door finally opens,” Rankine writes, “The woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs, Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” The stark lack of empathy creates an environment devoid of comfort, mirroring the discomfort deliberately woven into Rankine’s narrative.
The poem unfolds, revealing the aftermath of mistaken identity and highlighting the innate shame and fear felt when getting profiled. This mirrors Clark’s overarching theme, particularly evident in “Little Girl,” showing a girl-like face on the body of the deer. Deer are often hunted, ignored, and seen as an invasive species. They are little respected and often get overlooked, and this connection can be tied to the Black American experience, especially that of a child.
“Unheimlich comes to mind — you want to look away and can’t look away because it’s your doppelganger that’s been shadowing you.”- Claudia Rankine
Rankine and Clark create a space for empathy, urging viewers and readers to step out of their comfort zones. The use of “you” in Rankine’s work and the juxtaposition of human and animal experiences make readers feel the shared weight of such encounters.
The interaction between the new therapist and the trauma client mirrors a human facing a healthy animal they claim to care for. Initial intentions of assistance and care clash with instinctive hatred and bias upon face-to-face interaction. This collaboration between Rankine and Clark serves as an expression of understanding those often misunderstood — embracing diverse perspectives and fostering unity.
Essentially, “Citizen: An American Lyric” becomes a landscape for Rankine’s words and Clark’s art to come together to evoke thoughts of discomfort, introspection, and make a statement to a world divided by biases.
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