Apache Devil Dance 1931

Editor: This is "Apache Devil Dance," a 1931 graphite drawing by Helen Farr Sloan. It strikes me as both mysterious and powerful; I am curious about the blend of indigenous ritual with perhaps a modern, almost industrial sensibility in the headdresses. How do you interpret this work? Curator: From a materialist perspective, it is crucial to consider the context of its production. Sloan, as a white artist, engaged with Indigenous culture. This act is inseparable from the history of colonial appropriation. What was her process? How did she gain access to this ritual? Editor: That’s an important point I hadn't considered. So the making of the image is as significant as what is depicted. Curator: Exactly. The labor involved—the artist's, the subjects' indirectly—and the means by which the image is circulated as a commodity transform the ritual itself. Are we participating in its commodification even now? Furthermore, consider the choice of graphite: a relatively inexpensive material. Was this choice deliberate? A statement on access and representation perhaps? Editor: So, the use of a simple medium like graphite challenges any notion of “high art,” pointing instead to questions of cultural and economic exchange... It adds another layer to the representation itself. I also notice how some figures seem almost to wear machine-like adornments on their heads. Curator: Precisely. Notice also the distribution channels of prints. Mass-produced imagery shapes our understanding. In Sloan's time, prints brought the world to consumers, creating desires, knowledge and perpetuating power dynamics. What did viewers think of it then versus what do viewers think of it now? Editor: That's a powerful thought to consider, the print as a form of cultural consumption, shaping ideas then and continuing to now. I hadn’t quite thought of it like that before. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me today. Curator: My pleasure! Analyzing art through the lens of its production and consumption, really opens it up!