2009-10-26
Explanation
This single-panel comic shows two people in an art gallery or museum, standing in front of a painting that depicts two hands of different skin colors in a handshake. One person suggests calling the artwork "Peace Through Cooperation," while the artist angrily responds "Don't change my art!" The caption below reads: "Then again, it flows a bit better than 'Stop Cheating at Arm Wrestling, Whitey.'"
The humor lies in the gap between how the viewer interprets the art and what the artist actually intended. The painting of two hands clasping looks like a noble depiction of interracial harmony and cooperation, but the artist's original title reveals it was actually about a much more mundane situation -- an accusation of cheating during an arm wrestling match. The comic plays on the tendency to over-interpret art, especially when it involves racial imagery, and the idea that sometimes a painting of two people holding hands is not a profound statement about unity but rather a depiction of a petty sports dispute.
The votey panel shows the artist (or gallery curator) defiantly saying "We will never stop!" -- suggesting either the artist's stubborn refusal to let anyone reinterpret the work, or perhaps a continuation of the arm wrestling rivalry itself.