Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Rent-A-Negro.com

Rent-A-Negro.com is an art project created by performance artist Damali Ayo in 2003.  It's a cleverly done piece on race relations in the U.S.  The site is designed as a rental service for all your "black people needs", from not wanting to look racist, to shaking up the country club.   The final twist, however, is revealed when the user actually tries to fill out a proper invoice for renting a black person.  Ayo turned the site into a book, "How to Rent A Negro" in 2005, but the site itself is still the best approach to the subject, in the same vein as similar sites like Black People Love Us, Big Bad Chinese Mama.  Overall, it's a B+, high marks for originality, small points for being a bit heavy-handed.

(Quoted from my friend TJ, who rocks!)

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