53 / 126
What We Want, What We Need
Gibson layered a punching bag with a wool blanket adorned with pony beads, fringes, and rolled metal cones, materials used in Native American women’s jingle dresses and a reference to Native American Powwow culture, as well as beadwork across time periods. “What We Want, What We Need” is the 1989 hit single from Public Enemy’s album, Fight the Power, and signals the importance of Indigenous histories of community and activism activated through word and material.
ArtistJeffrey Gibson(b. 1972)
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, born 1972
Date2014
MediumFound punching bag, glass beads, artificial sinew, copper jingles, nylon fringe, and steel chain
Dimensions71 x 14 x 14 in. (180.3 x 35.6 x 35.6 cm)
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2015.13
ClassificationSculpture
Provenance(Marc Straus LLC, New York, NY); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2015
On ViewNo
This artwork's face covers about 136× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.
