John Outterbridge: "Traditional Hang-Up" 1969
The piece "Traditional Hang Up" was put on display at Occidental College in October of 1971. The sculpture was part of Outterbridge's first assemblage series called the Containment Series. Works from the Containment Series deal with physical and psychological restriction; many are panels using metal and highlight industrialism. Among those works, "Traditional Hang Up" stands out for its unusual t-shape which resembles a crucifix and for its overt politics by incorporating an American flag.
The arrangement of the stars and stripes in the piece creates only a fragmented view of the American flag not an exact imitation. The flag is a piece of steel, rather than the rag or cloth which Outterbridge used in later pieces, which strips it of all the lively animation a flag normally possesses. By changing the nature of the flag, he comments on the representation of African Americans who are not given the opportunity to express themselves as individuals to the same extent as the white majority.
The base of "Traditional Hang-Up" is made from a carved wood, which is filled with figurines that resemble skulls stacked one upon the other. These skulls allude to the mass murder of Africans on trans-Atlantic slave ships and the deaths of so many more black people by the hand of slave owners, lynching mobs, and governmental authorities after reaching American land.
John Outterbridge’s critique of nationhood and the flag takes into account the systemic oppression of African Americans, but this holistic understanding was complimented by his personal experiences with the flag. He enlisted in the army at age 19 and had seen many neighbors and friends go serve the American military during his youth. Outterbridge recounts in an interview that he considered the American flag was dubious because of its use in support of white supremacy; however, he also expresses pride in the flag’s role in his life and in the many African-Americans he knew to serve under the flag. It often decorated windows of homes in his childhood neighborhood to commemorate family members who died in military service. While "Traditional Hang-Up" critiques the flag as a symbol which obscures reality, Outterbridge viewed it as a symbol which can be taken back.
intersecting with the top, resembling a crucifix, tying in Outterbridge’s feelings concerning his community and their relationship with Christianity.
Overall, “Traditional Hang-Up” demonstrates the hypocrisy Outterbridge felt individually, as been good enough to serve the flag but not good enough to be adequately represented by it, in addition to a commentary on the poor circumstances and situations faced by himself and his peers in the past and in everyday life.
