NEW PALTZ, NY — Due to a scheduling conflict, the Art Lecture featuring Mark Pauline of Survival Research Laboratory has been cancelled. In its place, The Student Art Alliance will present Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry, creators of the public artwork “Witness: Police Violence In New York City” now installed at Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The lecture is free and open to all. It will be presented on Wednesday, December 1, 1999 in Lecture Center 112, beginning at 7pm.
“Witness: Police Violence In New York City” was conceptualized as a public artwork in the wake of Abner Louima’s allegations of beating and torture while in custody of police at the 70th Precinct Station House in Flatbush Brooklyn, and Amadou Diallo, who was fired upon and killed by police officers. Taped interviews of first-hand reports and anecdotal stories of people directly affected by violence and violent death forms the heart of this piece. The project is intended to promote and enhance the public dialogue around issues of police/community relations by giving voice to those whose lives have been impacted by police brutality. Through their testimony, Witness: Police Violence In New York City explores expressions of fear, prejudice, hate, betrayal, remorse, and loss.
Bradley McCallum will also discuss three other projects in which he combines oral histories of the bereaved and traumatized with visual elements. These include “Shroud: Mother’s Voices,” “Permanence of Memory,” and “The Manhole Cover Project.”
