“A flag should be simple, readily made, and capable of being made up in bunting; it should be different from the flag of any other country, place or people; it should be significant; it should be readily distinguishable at a distance; the colors should be well contrasted and durable; and lastly, and not the least important point, it should be effective and handsome.”
Issue 1 of SOUTHERN EXPOSURE focuses on the confederate flag a both an aesthetic object, despite being a carrier of a fraught legacy. As a southerner, and a black man, the symbol of the Confederate Battle Flag carries competing narratives. I find myself drawn to its aesthetic power, and sickened by what it represents.
This issue is meant to serve as a snapshot of a body of work, exploring the resistant relationship I have with this symbol; and to appropriate the symbol for use in a manner the racist founders of the confederacy would have never intended.
