Friday, January 6, 2012

Sensitized

I'm getting ready to take part in the encore performance of The Spoken Word Almanac Project's 2011 Year In Review show, that will be taking place at The Wild Project in New York City tomorrow, January 6, starting at 9 p.m. There has been one last addition-- a poem written about Troy Davis, the man who was executed this past year after a long drawn-out fight to determine his innocence. This is one of the interesting photos I have found during my research, and I'll be using it as part of the visuals I have collected to accompany the poem (created and read by the talented spoken word artist Adam "ShadoKat" Bowser). It's an intense poem, guaranteed to stir up some emotions, and at its best, that is what S.W.A.P. is all about.


For the record, I am against the death penalty. I feel it is a flawed tool used to exact revenge in the name of "justice." I think I actually had my mind made up by art. When I first moved out to the Hudson Valley, I volunteered at the innovative community arts organization Time & Space Limited. Based in Hudson, New York (where I currently reside, and my family is from), the company offers a mix of the arts, theater, community activism, and a progressive forum for discourse. Their 2000 exhibition Condemned dealt with Sing Sing's death row, and included mug shots of some 130 people who were executed at the Ossining, New York correctional facility, along with copies of their final letters, autopsy reports, menu for a last meal, and other memorabilia-- it was quite striking and alarming. According to The New York Times, "between 1891 and 1963, the year of the last legal execution in New York State, more people -- 614 -- were executed at Sing Sing than at any other prison." In very simple yet bold design, the exhibition showed how many death row inmates were falsely accused and sentenced, with proof of their innocence showing up after it was too late. Read The New York Times' June 21, 2000 review of the exhibition here.


I hope that the multimedia I create to accompany the S.W.A.P. poets' work might achieve the same result-- make the audience think, and above all feel for the subject matter. It is the personal that interests me, and it is a beautiful thing to be able to use your creativity in a way that contributes to the greater good of humanity-- no matter how small.


Learn more about the Poetic License festival and buy tickets to the S.W.A.P. encore at:
www.poetictheater.com
(friends, please use the "SWAP10" discount code to receive special $10 tickets)

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