- On View
- Cultural Expressions Gallery
- Museum Maps
- Objects in this Location
- Exhibition
- Cultural Expressions
- Written by
- Williams, Saul, American, born 1972
- Date
- 2004
- Medium
- ink on paper, plastic laminate
- Dimensions
- H x W (flat): 147 × 12 1/4 in. (373.4 × 31.1 cm)
- H x W x D (rolled): 2 × 12 1/4 × 2 3/4 in. (5.1 × 31.1 × 7 cm)
- Description
- A long piece of scrolled white paper containing a handwritten copy of Saul Williams' poem "Coded Language." The top half of the poem is written in both black and brown ink; the lower half just uses black ink. The handwriting is in all capital letters and features a distinctive 'E' made with just three parallel horizontal lines and no vertical line joining them. The poem begins, [Whereas, breakbeats have been the missing link connecting the diasporic / Community to its drum woven past / Whereas the quantized drum has allowed teh whirling musicians to / Calculate the ever changing distance between rock and stardom / Whereas the velocity of the spinning vinyl, cross-faded, spun back-wards, and / Re-released at the same given moment of recorded history, yet at a / Different moment in time's continuum has allowed history to catch up with / The present].
- Classification
- Memorabilia and Ephemera
- Topic
- Activism
- Hip-hop (Music)
- Language
- Spoken word (Poetry)
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Saul Williams
- Object number
- 2014.188.1
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Saul Williams
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.