If the name sounds familiar, it is. This Sarasota resident’s name has never been been far from the media, but it recently blazed through Fox news and the Orlando Sentinel among others, when he provoked some and angered others with his latest exhibit: the burning of the Confederate flag across 13 Southern states. But for many, it ignited a conversation.
Meet John Sims. He’s a political math artist, “at least in this context,” he says, and 2015 is his year. As for the math part, it’s Pi Year, and if you’re a geek, you know Pi Day was March 13, 2015 or 131415 — pi. In celebration he and other artists wrote a Pi Day anthem with a Youtube video. It got more than 19,000 views and made it to Harvard’s math department site.
But more than the year of pi, 2015 is the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. So what better time to ponder the southern rebel flag, burn it or bury it, like Sims did?
Why burn and bury the Confederate flag on Memorial Day?
Because of its symbolism. One of the reasons the Confederate flag is often still used is due to a lack of resistance in the black community. This is why South Carolina flies the flag on public ground where taxes are paid, despite protests to remove it.
I’m using this project to stimulate that resistance, to recognize the origins of this holiday and to create a time and space for descendants of slaves to reflect upon that. It doesn’t happen on MLK Day or Kwanzaa. We’ve had enough conversation. We need transformation and I’m trying to introduce new rituals into American culture that account for black history. The flag was a Klan piece in the ‘20s and was used in the ‘60s by anti-civil rights protestors. In the late ‘90’s, there were demonstrations when South Carolina government officials refused to take the Confederate flag down from the State House, while other Southern states had. In 2009, there was a shooting between two teenagers right here on Main Street that started with one teen brandishing it, so even youth can get agitated by the flag. Then Baltimore happened and I just knew I had to do this.
“Art can induce evolution. It’s like social therapy. I want black and white people do get in on this in a cathartic way.”
What’s your personal relationship to the flag?
I’m not for any laws that prohibit carrying the Swastika, the devil flag or anything else, but I’m against an institution that receives tax money to support or embrace flags that instill fear. I think there should be a federal law against having the Confederate flag shown on government property or displayed on flagpoles over a certain height.
What about free speech?
I’m all about it. I support people’s right to wave the Confederate flag and I hope they support my right to burn and bury it.
What would you say to those who link the flag to heritage, not race relations?
Southern heritage is not all about cornbread and sweet tea. Don’t forget about slavery, segregation and a few lynchings. The Confederate flag can never be a non-toxic symbol for Southern culture. Also, it’s historically a flag of secession, so it’s counterintuitive to include it into any state flag, unless you’re communicating something sinister.
What are some memorable responses you’ve had to the Confederate flag burials?
A man named Charles Sims sent me an email telling me how horrible what I was doing was. He kept driving home how we could be related since we share the same last name and I thought that was really scary.
On the other hand, I got an email from a woman who said she felt freed. If I can arrest the fear of the Confederate flag, that’s amazing.
You can live anywhere in the country where you don’t have to see the massive flag at the intersection of Interstates 75 and 4. Why here?
Initially I came to Sarasota to teach in the math department at Ringling College about 15 years ago. I like the peace and quiet. I like being in the cut and focused on my work. I’ve also worked with the Amish community here and I value that relationship. At my last exhibit at the State College of Florida, “Square Roots: A Quilted Manifesto,” I collaborated with Alma Sue Quilt Shop in Sarasota. Also, I had a great creative relationship with the late Kevin Dean. I wish there were more people like him, Gale Fulton Ross, the late Leslie Lerner and Fiore Custode. But I spend a lot of time New York City and elsewhere to get the brain juice.
What else have you done to the flag?
I made an Afro-Confederate battle flag by coloring it green, black and red. I’ve put sequins on it, and bordered with a pink boa. In my “How to hang a confederate flag” exhibit, I hung it from a noose from a 13 foot gallow’s pole.
What’s next?
A CD release, then a play and to wrap it up, a documentary art film. I also wanna make Pi Day an annual celebration and am planning to hold a Pi Day event in Times Square next year.
As for the flag burials, I also wanna make that an annual ritual. Along with other artists, we want to expand it and turn it into a cultural political event. We’re gonna flip the script on how we perceive American history and create a space for other perspectives.
Keep up with John Sims on Facebook or check out his website to find out more about his math, politics and art.