Jon & Jarrett Key

grafting

In the horticultural world, grafting is the natural or deliberate fusion of plant parts, resulting in a composite organism that functions as a single plant. Grafting is performed to speed up flowering and fruit growth; to modify fruit varietals; to build resistance to pests and disease; or to create unusual growth forms. For Headmaster No. 9, brothers Jon and Jarrett key were assigned a project in which they had to consider the concept of grafting. Here they discuss their process in creating photo collages that graft the two artists together.

Jarrett: Grafting seems defined by the dependence of one organism on a stronger more independent organism until that dependent organism flourishes. Like the memory of our ancestors, they are dependent on us to keep them alive by saying their name. I consider the image of someone literally leaning on someone else. Figuratively, could grafting imply the burden of carrying someone else's weight? What does it mean to rely on something else in order to survive? 

Jon: Grafting is an interesting way to think about a collaboration process between you and I. Each of us have our specific unique skill set or as Ben Shahn says we each have our own specific rapport with a medium that informs a larger process and object. Your sartorial work, Jarrett, provided a launching place for us to consider this collaboration. You are using specific colors, patterns, and fabrics right now that really culminate in a queer Black opera mythology about our family.

Jarrett: Yes, I have been focusing on haint blue pleated garments. Pleats, popularized by their freedom for movement, highlight specific histories of class, power, and labor. Pleats become clear icons and manifestations or utterances of our ancestors. I wanted to build patterns that would allow various garments to function modularly. Layers of different garments build on top of each other much like a family tree, like a genealogy. Like branches from a tree, these garments hang from one solid trunk, our body.  

Jon: From Jarrett’s idea, I suggested that the garments should literally tie to us, tie together, tie around us. This editorial frame allowed us to build various “looks” and narratives by attaching these module pieces to our bodies. Thus allowing them to flourish, or graft, in a new context. 

Jarrett: The natural next step was for Jon to manipulate the images in various collages. Collage as a process reimagines the fragility of memory. Through collage, time, space, and image get compressed, jumbled up to make something new. Something clear and concise is born without necessarily being linear or didactic. This new image archives imagery, experiences and emotions. Changing one original image with the introduction of new material again reflects a grafting process. As unexpected elements are introduced, a transformation occurs.