Access a slow-looking exercise of this work.

Transcript
Narrator: Rashid Johnson’s "Cosmic Slop “Bitter,”" from 2015, features a solid black surface just over 6 feet high by 8 feet wide, marked by deep cuts and grooves. If we were to touch this surface, our fingers would dance and skip over cracks and crevices, like peaks and valleys in a barren post-volcanic landscape, newly created after a lava flow.

We might also be surprised at its waxy feeling in contrast to the rough appearance of the surface. Johnson uses black soap and wax, which he melts and then manipulates through cutting and digging, etching deep slashes and scratches before it fully hardens. More than simply mark-making, Johnson relates his process to a performance, transforming and layering meaning to this everyday household material.

Black soap itself is said to have transformative and healing properties, particularly in West Africa. It cleanses us on the surface but tastes bitter, a contradiction noted in the artwork’s title, "Cosmic Slop “Bitter.”" The color and title also reference a 1973 song by Parliament Funkadelic and allude to the pain Black bodies have endured, scars both visible and beneath the surface.

What contradictory emotions might we encounter with this work?

By Way Of

Exhibition Website

Description of Cosmic Slop "Bitter", 2021

What’s The Catch?

By Hippie Soul. All rights reserved ®️©️.

Lyrics :

Inaccessible to You

[Verse]
I built a castle out of thin air
You tried to climb but couldn't dare
The walls are whispers the doors don’t care
Invisible threads everywhere

[Chorus]
It’s inaccessible to you
No matter what you try to do
A maze of mirrors you can’t break through
It’s inaccessible inaccessible to you

[Verse 2]
You brought a map to a shifting ground
But every step just spun you around
The stars I follow you never found
A silence screaming without a sound

[Prechorus]
You knock and knock on hollow stone
This world I’ve made is mine alone

[Chorus]
It’s inaccessible to you
No matter what you try to do
A maze of mirrors you can’t break through
It’s inaccessible inaccessible to you

[Bridge]
The key is lost the lock’s a ghost
A fading shadow I love the most
You chase the wind but it slips away
Some things aren’t meant for you today

Inaccessible to You

=== IN THE HOUSE MIX ===

Reggae VS House

Renato Bethlehem In The House Bootleg Mix

Jennifer Lara - I Am In Love (Renato Bethlehem In The House Bootleg Mix)

Available from https://www.mrbongo.com/products/the-sylvers-only-one-can-win-fools-paradise-vinyl-7

‘Only One Can Win’ – brilliantly flipped by J Dilla on his epic ‘Two Can Win’, that appears on his legendary ‘Donuts’ LP for Stones Throw. 

‘Fools Paradise’ is a midtempo soul/funk jam taken from the first ‘The Sylvers' LP. A favourite at Mr Bongo HQ that we felt needed to appear on a 7”. Beautiful, golden-era soul written by Leon Sylvers III, produced by Jerry Butler and Keg Johnson.

The Sylvers

The Sylvers – Fool's Paradise

Johnny Hammond Smith Tell Me What To Do (DJ Day Edit)

Record label. Record shop. Film label. Since 1989.