David Hammons, Kartopu Satisi

1943 Dogumlu Hammons ozellikle 1960 ve 70' lerde New York'da gerceklestirdigi islerle taninir. Siyahlarin haklarini savunmak adina islerinde irkci karsitligi bir tavir soz konusudur. Ote yandan, muzelere ve sanatcilarin islerinin bir kuruma bagli olarak sergilenmesi durumuna da tepki gosterir. Ona gore sanat, sokakta gunluk yasamin icinde gerceklestirilmesi gereken bir pratiktir. Sanatcinin en bilinen isi 1983' te Manhattan' da gerceklestirdigi Kartopu Satisidir(Bliz-aard Ball Sale). Bu performans sanatcinin, muzelerin  sanat yapitina para bicme durumuna karsi uyguladigi parodik bir girisimdir. Ayrica yine siyahi bir sanatcinin sokakta bembeyaz kartoplari satmasini da irkciliga karsi yapilmis ironik bir tavir olarak da algilamak mumkun. Hammons'in sanat hakkinda kendi agzindan cikan bazi dusunceleri: 

"WHEN I WAS IN CALIFORNIA, ARTISTS WOULD WORK FOR YEARS AND NEVER HAVE A SHOW. SO SHOWING HAS NEVER BEEN THAT IMPORTANT TO ME. WE USED TO CUSS PEOPLE OUT: PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT OUR WORK, DEALERS, ETC., BECAUSE THAT PART OF BEING AN ARTIST WAS ALWAYS A JOKE TO US.

I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY BLACK PEOPLE WERE CALLED SPADES, AS OPPOSED TO CLUBS. BECAUSE I REMEMBER BEING CALLED A SPADE ONCE, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANT; NIGGER I KNEW BUT SPADE I STILL DON'T. SO I TOOK THE SHAPE, AND STARTED PAINTING IT.

I LIKE DOING STUFF BETTER ON THE STREET, BECAUSE THE ART BECOMES JUST ONE OF THE OBJECTS THAT'S IN THE PATH OF YOUR EVERYDAY EXISTENCE. IT'S WHAT YOU MOVE THROUGH, AND IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY SENIORITY OVER ANYTHING ELSE.

DOING THINGS IN THE STREET IS MORE POWERFUL THAN ART I THINK. BECAUSE ART HAS GOTTEN SO....I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK ART IS ABOUT NOW. IT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING. LIKE MALCOLM X SAID, IT'S LIKE NOVOCAINE. IT USED TO WAKE YOU UP BUT NOW IT PUTS YOU TO SLEEP. I THINK THAT ART NOW IS PUTTING PEOPLE TO SLEEP. THERE'S SO MUCH OF IT AROUND IN THIS TOWN THAT IT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING. THAT'S WHY THE ARTIST HAS TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT HE SHOWS AND WHEN HE SHOWS NOW. BECAUSE THE PEOPLE AREN'T REALLY LOOKING AT ART, THEY'RE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER AND EACH OTHER'S CLOTHES AND EACH OTHER'S HAIRCUTS.

THE ART AUDIENCE IS THE WORST AUDIENCE IN THE WORLD. IT'S OVERLY EDUCATED, IT'S CONSERVATIVE, IT'S OUT TO CRITICIZE NOT TO UNDERSTAND, AND IT NEVER HAS ANY FUN. WHY SHOULD I SPEND MY TIME PLAYING TO THAT AUDIENCE?"

DAVID HAMMONS 1986