In her installation piece What Matters, artist and activist Judy Byron pairs women in conversation to discuss “what matters” to them. Byron then produces 3-D portraits of her participants, accompanied by audio recordings of their dialogue, which are displayed together in an installation inviting audience members to further discuss the topic . Here two women, Marianne and Joan, talk casually about the costs of war.
Marianne and Joan. Colored Pencil And Crayon On Handmade Linen Paper. Attached To Arches Drawing Paper Surfaced W/Color Pencil, Charcoal, And Punch Holes. 72″ X 52″. 2007.
Advertisements
Self Deception
(Michael O’Leary)
Snow was falling on the small railway station
The ground was as cold as the air
The only heat rose from the engine’s boiler
Whose steam billowed everywhere
Spilling over onto the platform
Obscuring the already chaotic scene
Our guards were rounding up the old women
The children and the lame and crippled men
Herding them into the freight wagons
As I crossed the railway tracks again
Toward the Belsen bound death express
Out of the crowd came a small boy.
He was smiling.
The child was dark and Jewish looking
One of the men was yelling at him.
Hurry up, get in the boxcar
Suddenly the boy turned away.
He became light, ethereal looking
Floated off into the approaching evening air
As the vision joined the engine’s rising smoke
I realised I was watching myself.
All those years ago, at this station waiting
To get the train home from my school
Catching a final glimpse within the clouds
The evaporating image smiled back down
Catching a final glimpse within the clouds
The evaporating image smiled back down