From Christine Buckley’s article for the Huffington Post blog:
In her recent and timely work utilizing the Human Race Machine, ‘What if He were: Black-Asian-Hispanic-Middle Eastern-Indian,’ Burson created images of Donald Trump as each of these races. Originally commissioned by a prominent magazine, which ultimately decided not to publish it, Burson said she was spurred to produce the work. “The question in my mind was whether Donald Trump’s brain would be affected with an empathetic response upon viewing the work,” explained Burson.
While art and politics don’t always mix, Burson’s project is one that goes beyond politics and delves deep into the psychology of a person’s sense of self. One has to wonder if Trump sat with the image of himself as Middle Eastern, would he at all feel empathy and reconsider his position of banning Muslims from entering the United States? Or if he visually experienced himself as Hispanic, would he still fiercely advocate building a wall with Mexico? Would he at all feel compassion for others, if even on a subconscious level?