with Artforming

Vessels is a competition entry for the 2009 art installation at the Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) in Philadelphia that built upon some of the material and atmospheric successes of Public Display #1. The ESP focused on reform rather than punishment and employed a strict policy of solitary confinement for all inmates – each was given a cell along with an attached exterior space. All activities were performed in isolation and planned so that inmates never crossed paths to the extent that when removed from their cells the inmates were hooded. The proposal recreated the sense of separation between inmates by recording the passing of visitors to the National Historic Landmark. These movements are then translated and replayed through the pulsing of the light boxes located in a cell and its adjacent exterior space.