According to conceptual artist John Sims, the proper way to hang a Confederate flag is from a noose, hoisted from a 13- foot-high wooden gallows. This flag should hang in all formerly Confederate states, not inside the museum but, preferably, in front of it. And, if people who protect the flag want to assassinate him, then so be it.

John Sims' exhibit "The Proper Way To Hang A Confederate Flag" was the subject of protest when it first opened at Gettysburg College. Later, at Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Florida, public dissent continued with demonstrations, hate mail, death threats, and personalized notes from the Mystic Knights of the Klu Klux Klan.

Sims views the flag as a symbol of "visual terrorism" - its original meaning lost once it appeared in "Birth of a Nation" and became a sidekick to sheet-clad KKK members at rallies, burnings, lynchings, and other terrorism attacks. Southern groups, however, continue to protest this exhibit; to

them, the flag represents pride, bravery and patriotism, terrorism nothwithstanding. Sims expects more protests as this series grows and, is thrilled that the work has opened up a passionate dialog; which is what art, as its very best, is inclined to do.

Sims' interest in the Confederate flag has evolved into a collective known as Recoloration Proclamation - where Sims changes the interpretation of the flag by recoloring it red, black and green, or simply black and white. The series includes thirty different flags, like the "Drag Flag" (seen in the back with Boa feathers and high-heeled shoes), the "Bondage Flag" as well as other visual and musical dramatizations designed to reflect alternate views of familiar symbols. As a video component to the exhibit, the emboldened artist/activist even went on to write The Gettysburg Redress (an emendation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address), and collaborate with producers, such as DJ Spooky, to create ten different versions of Dixie - America's most famous Southern heritage song.

A Detroit native and current resident of Sarasota, FL, Mr. Sims is an internationally known math artist. As former Coordinator of Mathematics at Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, he developed a visual mathematics curriculum - where students were taught to communicate ideas of quantity, relationship, symmetry and pattern through art and design. His body of art includes colorful quilts, based on visual grids corresponding to the number pi, "Time Sculpture," and hand-made chessboards with white kings that cannot be dethroned. While there is no particular math component to his Confederate flag work, Sims believes that "mathematics give us a starting platform for discussing complex ideas," from nature, to racial differences, history, and injustice. The fundamental idea connecting all of Sims' work, he says, is that it gives voice to "political, visual, and philosophical investigation."

John Sims is currently working on his Ph. D and developing a Recoloration Proclamation film project, which includes historical narrative, interviews, and footage of the Exhibitions. Also in the works is a future math project that will, literally, change the face of New York City!

sims with math art

johnsimsprojects.com is a visual and auditory wonderland. check it out!