Holly Melgard’s Black Friday, a 740-page experimental work composed almost entirely of black ink, provokes a powerful meditation on the intersection of race, materiality, and the very act of writing. While its title might evoke consumerism, the poem delves into much deeper territories, exploring the representation of Black life and challenging conventional notions of the printed word. This article examines Melgard’s Black Friday within the context of Black literature and aesthetics, considering its conceptual framework and its potential to disrupt traditional poetic forms.
Contents
The Blackness of Ink, the Whiteness of the Page
The stark contrast of black ink on a white page becomes a potent symbol in Melgard’s work.
Both Amiri Baraka and Zora Neale Hurston have eloquently explored the complexities of representing Black identity within the predominantly white space of the printed page. Baraka’s declaration, “By the time this book appears, I will be even blacker,” and Hurston’s observation, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background,” resonate deeply with Melgard’s artistic endeavor. Black Friday pushes this tension to its extreme, flooding the white page with black ink, almost obliterating the traditional boundaries of text and background.
Black Friday: A Digital/Analog Divide
Melgard’s initial concept for Black Friday was to explore the limitations of print-on-demand technology, testing the boundaries between the digital and the physical book. The sheer volume of ink required to print the work presented a practical challenge, creating a piece that could only “sometimes appear in print.” This precarious existence between the digital and the physical realms adds another layer of meaning to the poem, highlighting the ephemeral nature of representation itself.
Beyond Consumerism: A Poem of Black Materiality
While the title Black Friday initially conjures images of consumer culture, Melgard’s poem transcends this superficial reading. The overwhelming blackness of the ink becomes a metaphor for Black presence, a material intervention in the traditionally white space of literature. The minimal white space, confined to the small page numbers, further emphasizes this inversion, creating a visual representation of minimized whiteness.
Echoes of the Black Arts Movement
The density of the ink in Black Friday can be seen as a material embodiment of Black artistic expression.
Melgard’s work can be seen as a continuation of the Black Arts Movement’s call for a more material, politically engaged art form. Like Baraka’s desire for poems that “shoot / guns,” Black Friday pushes the boundaries of what poetry can be, disrupting the means of its own production. The potential for the poem to “destroy the means of its own production” resonates with the frustration and urgency of Black artistic expression in a world saturated with anti-Blackness.
Circulating Blackness: Filling the Void
Nicole Fleetwood’s concept of blackness as something that “fills in space between matter…between bodies” provides a powerful lens for understanding Black Friday. The poem’s dense blackness becomes a visual representation of this filling-in, a disruptive force that challenges the traditional emptiness of the page. This act of filling, however, also reveals the inherent void, the ongoing struggle for representation and recognition within a dominant culture.
Beyond the Page: The Limits of Poetic Form
Melgard’s work acknowledges the limitations of poetic form in addressing the complexities of racial injustice. The poem itself cannot contain the violence of anti-Black racism; it can only point towards the void, the ongoing struggle for justice and liberation. The act of “becoming blacker,” as explored by both Baraka and Melgard, represents both a powerful assertion of identity and a recognition of the ongoing vulnerability that comes with it.
Conclusion: A Poetic Intervention
Black Friday stands as a powerful and provocative work of experimental poetry. By pushing the boundaries of form and content, Melgard creates a space for reflection on the materiality of language, the complexities of racial representation, and the ongoing struggle for Black liberation. The poem’s stark visual presentation and conceptual framework challenge traditional notions of what poetry can be, offering a powerful intervention in the literary landscape.