Antebellum Grotesque
In his unique body of work, "Antebellum Grotesque," Robin travels to multiple plantations in the "Deep South." The work challenges the discourse on slavery by engaging the viewer's sensitivity toward the enslaved experiences through an experimental video illustrating the dichotomy between the violent conditions Black people faced under chattel slavery and the romanticism and glorification of the plantation. It provides a juxtaposed reality; for white's slavery was in the past, that "it wasn't that bad," that the splendor of plantations has outlived whatever negativity they might represent. This glorification or romanticizing of slave plantations is prevalent in the wedding industry. For Blacks, it displays the profoundly flawed, disturbing, or eccentric characteristics of Southern slave owners who decayed Christianity with a skewed perspective to help support the sinister events of chattel slavery.
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