Curatorial statement

Rameses Muslim will receive his BFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA in May 2009. He came to San Francisco from Milwaukee, WI where he had been a licensed tattooist since 2000. I met Rameses in 2006 when I was curator at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), which is just down the street from the Academy. Since then, we have stayed in touch. In his BFA show entitled Cards, he offers playing cards as a format to set up a thoughtful and detailed societal structure. The following is his statement about the work.

Rameses Muslim's Artist Statement
A while back while attending a history course that examined the rise and fall of western civilizations, I remember entertaining the thoughts of kings and queens wielding unimaginable influence and power. Daydreaming, I wondered how a chosen few have always seemed to direct and organize masses of individuals. Just then I was snapped back into the present. The professor, who was in the thick of his lesson, said something very thought provoking. He said Aristotle examined civilization and determined that there were six components every civilization must possess to function and grow successfully. They are as follows:

1. A court to determine civil and criminal cases
2. Revenue
3. Religious or spiritual services
4. Arms
5. Art
6. A surplus of food

I reflected with a degree of cynicism, “perhaps in Aristotle's time," but could all the American citizens from Long Island to Long Beach simply fit into six forms of societal functionality? I started to challenge this notion, finding modern translations to these components. The best way to classify them was with a deck of cards. They are as follows:

1. A court to determine civil and criminal cases (Aces)
2. Revenue (Kings)
3. Religious or spiritual services (Queens)
4. Arms (Jacks)
5. Art (The Deck of cards as a creative tool)
6. A surplus of food (anything inspiring thought one may come away with)

Additionally, in my understanding, societies have always maintained a class or caste system, for this exercise know that within each class, under a specific component, a different function is assumed, consequently with greater or less responsibility towards society. The breakdown is as follows:

-Spades (Upper class)
-Diamonds (Upper-middle class)
-Clubs (Lower-middle class)
-Hearts (Lower class)

Lastly, I challenge all who enjoy this exercise to make parallels between one component and another (e.g. Does a lower-middle class person assume lower-middle class religious services?) I have taken great care in constructing this deck of cards, I hope it challenges and inspires you.

Aces
The Aces are the arbiters of justice; they provide greater insight in their interpretations between right and wrong conduct. In this exercise, judges are not only persons, but also forces both natural and synthesized.

Kings
The kings represent a source of revenue or wealth in society. A king's function, aside from governance, has been primarily to SEEK wealth and allocate it to his subjects.

Queens
Even though there remains disputes as to who or what we should worship and when, no doubt, worship and sacrifice are always due to whomever one chooses. In this exercise, the queens are a list of ubiquitous services found in most systems of belief.

Jacks
Jacks are the executive branches--enforcing laws, upholding the status quo and molding the zeitgeist.

[ HIDE ]