Strange Fruit, 2012-2013
- Medium
- Clothing racks, casters, light bulbs, cables, cords, plastic plants, papier-mâché, varnish, water color, metal rings, zip ties
- Dimensions
- Dimensions variable
- Accession Number
- 2016.18A-F
- Copyright
© Haegue Yang.
- Credit
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition and Collection Committee
Haegue Yang’s installation Strange Fruit consists of six meticulously constructed sculptures that incorporate everyday domestic items and handmade materials, including light bulbs and papier-mâché objects, into loosely woven tree-like forms. This work is titled after the heartbreaking, anti-lynching protest song of the same name, originally written by Abel Meeropol in 1936, and famously recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939, then by Nina Simone in 1965 during the height of the Civill Rights Movement. Yang channels the sentiments rendered in these legendary performances by creating a heightened sensorial experience that powerfully evokes the emotional tenor of the song and the complex historical legacy of America.