Sheldon Scott: Portrait, Number 1 Man (Day Clean Ta Sun Down)

"From sun up until sun down, the body will hull and winnow rice grains, then place the hulled grains, one by one, on a tomb-like vessel lined with burlap until the weight and value of the vessel equals that of the body laboring to fill it." For twelve hours and twenty minutes, performance artist Sheldon Scott processed rice. One by one, with his hands, just as his ancestors—the enslaved peoples of the Gullah/Geechee region—did day in and day out, not all that long ago. By using his own body to, in real time, physically remember the experience of hundreds of enslaved peoples, Scott makes the history just a little more human than it was perceived as before. Featuring a score by singer-songwriter and composer Tamar-kali and cinematography by Jon-Sesrie Goff, the film Portrait, number 1 man (day clean ta sun down) will be exhibited at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art through August. ogdenmuseum.org.