Kamau Patton, The Mathematic and Magic Manipulation of Destiny

From the beginning, Patton’s concerns have always been with politics, government and social policy. After he moved to the Bay Area, he began to ask questions about the aesthetics of authority and how political power was expressed visually. This line of inquiry led him to look at the different aspects of The Nation of Islam, the Yoruba and Luba people of West and Southeastern Africa respectively, African American cult activity including the Black Hebrew Israelites and the 5 Percent Nation. As well, he explored the work of a Washington D.C. janitor named James Hampton who, in the 1950’s, created The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly in a poorly lit garage that he rented specifically for the purpose of creating this piece.

The hybrid nature of Patton’s work – the blending of fact and fiction – is reflective of the Diasporic cultures he pulls from. Like the religions systems found in the African Diaspora, Patton’s work contains an inherent malleability, a necessary quality for people and situations marked by instability.