Mule, 2006
8mm digitally transferred and edited
Pinder’s portrayal of the black body at work, under distress, and moving through pain and exhaustion constitutes an act of resistance and social commentary. As Pinder states, “I portray the black body both frenetically and through drudgery in order to convey relevant cultural experiences.”
Mule is about resistance. Pulling a three hundred pound log encrusted with pressed tin becomes a metaphor for struggle. In this performance piece, forward progress on an inner city street proves near impossible. The object that Pinder moves has been weathered by time and dissected from deteriorating Baltimore homes. The artist literally pulls the wreckage of past generations. In a struggle to move forward, every ounce of energy is utilized to create momentum. Like a mule, Pinder acts as a beast-of-burden, not focusing on the end, rather pushing forward with blinders, his labor amounting to a pure meditation of what has come before and what lies ahead.
