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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK covering the record MFA Thesis in New Media by Devin Henry April 20th - 23rd 2019
Thesis Statement 7 Obscuring American Values 9 Untitled (information in plain sight) 17 Undoing Progress and Redacted 25 Walled Fenced In/Out 33 Thoughts and Prayers (an exercise in verbiage) 37 Trend Line (is this enough data?) 51 Postscript 57 Citations 59 Photo and Technology Credits 61 PUBLIC NOTICE Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed MFA THESIS EXHIBITION tin- cidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat vo- lutpat. Ut wisi enim COVERING quis nostrud exerci THE tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip RECORD commodo consequat. Duis eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et ac Lorem ipsum DEVIN HENRY cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euis OPENING RECEPTION: APRIL 20, 7:00 - 9:00 pm aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis ARTIST TALK: APRIL 23, 11:30 am pmnostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lo- bortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo conseq Lorem ipsum ROBERT C TURNER GALLERY consectetuer SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN adipisc- ing NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE of CERAMICS elit, sed diam nonummy HARDER HALL fhjds df- gjfdgj ALFRED UNIVERSITY nibh euismod tincid- unt ut t dolore.
Approved for release April 9th, 2019 – twitter.com/DevinHenry_art Covering the Record
A lady asked Dr. (Benjamin) Franklin ‘Well Doctor, what have we got – a republic or a Monarchy?’ ‘A republic,’ replied the doctor, ‘if you can keep it.’ From the notes of Dr. James McHenry, published in Te American Historical Review, vol 11 (1906), p. 618
Covering the Record is a body of work refecting upon and challenging the current state or afairs within the United States, specifcally its current governing administration. Te title is a play on two opposing defnitions of cover: one being an act of protection and the other an act of concealment. Te works exhibited either demonstrate an act of hiding, obscuring, or outright destroying foundations of our society, or make eforts to preserve and present it. Tis ofen requires an active efort on the individual’s part akin to how gleaning actual information in our current media landscape usually needs more resources than a television remote.
Te 21st century has been one of triumphs and tragedies. It has seen the development of the HPV vaccine and the deadliest act of foreign terrorism on US soil. Marriage equality shared the same space as two illegitimate presidential elections. A lot has happened in the span of twenty years, yet it feels like the past two years have been the most dynamic, and not necessarily in a positive way.
We fnd ourselves in a time where the fabric that holds the country together is tearing apart. Our rights and values are being eroded through acts of aggression and apathy while the fourth branch seeks to entertain and ignite rather than check and inform. Sound policy has given way to sound bites, and compromise has become synonymous with weakness instead of cooperation.
Te central message I hope to convey is to pay attention and think critically. Our rights and laws may not collapse in one giant spectacle, but while the actors are out putting on a big show, we may not notice things dissolving line-by-lin 8 Obscuring American Values Obscuring American Values is a series of four prints with contradictory Finally, behind the sign reading NO WHINING lies the text of Title messages woven into a single sheet of paper. On frst approach all one IX, part of Te Education Amendments of 1972, enacted by the 92nd US can see is bold white text on a black feld with negative commands. NOT Congress, which sought to eliminate discrimination based on sex by any WELCOME. NO SOLICITING. NO LOITERING. NO WHINING. Like a public institution receiving Federal funding. To this, the bold text on the sign posted on a door these aggressive texts are literally spelled out in black front of the sign dismissively says “suck it up.” and white to present a message with no room for interpretation. But what if we are looking at these messages backwards? What is the If one examines the prints more closely another message begins to bolder message? Te black and white text sits on the paper, yet their two- emerge. Embossed into each print is its outward message’s antithesis. word declarations can be rendered temporary. In less than a minute’s Behind NOT WELCOME lies Te New Colossus, the sonnet written by time someone could change these messages or cover them up entirely. American poet Emma Lazarus in 1883 which sits at the base of the Statue Te embossed text, the more powerful messages from our history, would of Liberty greeting immigrants and citizens alike with its most famous line remain. Walls may be built and laws changed, but the foundations and “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breath principles of the country will remain if we take the efort to assure they are free.” not destroyed entirely. Behind the letters reading NO SOLICITING is a section of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington. Dr. King’s bold cries for equality clash with a dismissive message, “I have a dream” is met with “I don’t want to hear it.” NO LOITERING obscures words written by the Founders themselves, the First Amendment from the Bill of Rights, with the section guaranteeing “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” emphasized. In the summer of 2018, the National Park Service put forth a proposal to charge for permits to hold demonstrations on the National Mall, among other restrictions.1 Tese demonstrations are the embodiment of the Founder’s text, but the sign says “get out.”
9 10 11 12 13 14 Te idea for Obscuring American Values sprung from the contradictory Te other texts selected follow a similar logic to the frst print. ideas of the Founders and the current administration. More specifcally, NO SOLICITING contradicts Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on welcome vs. not welcome – like the mats you can buy and put outside your Washington and his famous I Have A Dream speech, NO LOITERING front door (the latter usually as a novelty). Tis led me to investigate how to goes against the 1st Amendment’s protection of the people’s right to get two contradictory ideas into one form. peacefully assemble, and NO WHINING being a dismissal of the fair and impartial promises of the Title IX guidelines in federally funded education Having observed it done a few times in the print shop, I decided to try programs, which many in the world of politics (and sometimes education) embossing as a means to this end. Te frst piece was NOT WELCOME ofen bemoan. with the poem Te New Colossus by American poet Emma Lazarus being the embossed text due to its placement on the Statue of Liberty and theme Each print was foated of the wall using magnets taped to the back of being one of welcoming visitors and immigrants alike into New York each print to attach it to thumbtacks embedded in the wall. Spot lights at Harbor and, by extension, the US. a steep angle were used to light each print individually to emphasize the raised text in each print by creating longer shadows. Te print itself is a mostly hand carved wood block printed on the ofset press (the laser was used to etch the outlines of the letters so they would be as sharp as possible). Te ink was a 2:1 mixture of Hanco Process Black and Refex Blue lithography ink. Te embossed text was produced with a 3/4” plywood block etched about a quarter inch with the laser cutter at a very low speed and high power – the cut time with the new laser module was around fve hours per block. Arnhem paper was chosen for its heavy weight and sizing, both of which helped it take the embossing well and not warp too severely. A series of each print at a smaller size was also produced in this manner using the same paper and slightly shorter texts for the embossing except the Toshiba digital printer/copier was used to set the main text onto each print as opposed to hand printing with the ofset press.
15 16 Untitled (information in plain sight) Tis piece was inspired by a single quote from Donald Trump, “Get rid have been if they found these coded messages and assumed them to just be of the fucking Braille. No blind people are going to live in Trump Tower. bumps on a page. Just Do it.”2 Tis is an exchange between Mr. Trump and an architect upon So what is something we trust with little question in our society? seeing the Braille text during the construction of Trump Tower in New Information in general, especially the news. I am not going to go to the York in the early 1980s, per Barbara Res who oversaw the construction arrogant extreme of Mr. Trump by declaring everything that doesn’t ft company hired to produce the building. my narrative as “fake news,” or to the extreme that thinks it’s one big I will admit that part of the inspiration for this piece was a knee-jerk conspiracy to lull us into complacency, but one is at a severe disadvantage reaction to this story – a “well if he doesn’t like it I’m going to fnd a way to by only watching television news and believing it all verbatim. It’s not so use it because fuck Trump” – but it also got me to research and think more much what’s reported as it is what’s lef out. We have ongoing military about the form itself. Its purpose is to help a disadvantaged group, those action in Iraq, what’s the death toll there from our continued involvement? who are blind or visually impaired, function in a society that heavily relies Do people even realize we’re still there? What are the current trends with on a visual language. It does not completely level the playing feld, someone hate crime in the US? Is it rising or falling? Is the newly negotiated NAFTA who can see can learn to read Braille visually or by touch while the reverse agreement actually going to help the average American? is not true, but it does provide an aid for a population that needs it even if Are any of the answers to these questions contained within the strips on some fnd it aesthetically displeasing. the wall? Do all of these little, raised, black dots mean anything or are they It can also turn the privilege structure around in a way. Someone with purely aesthetic? normal vision can read Braille if they make the efort to do so, but why As is the case with our information world, there’s more there than what bother? We see it next to a sign and just assume it’s a direct translation of you see at surface level. whatever it is associated with. Or with something like a novel, the Braille version of Te Catcher in the Rye is no diferent than the German version for an English speaker – same text, diferent language. But it can also be code; in fact, it is derived from “night writing,” a tactile code Charles Barbier developed for Napoleon so his soldiers could communicate at night without a light source.3 In this framing our base assumptions could put us at a disadvantage, much like the armies opposing Napoleon would
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19 20 21 22 As mentioned previously, this project was inspired by a report that was Braille translator, the typesetting guidelines for Braille (kerning, leading, released describing the argument between Trump and his contractor over standard font size, etc.), and a font to use.6, 7 From there it was a matter the Braille in the elevators during the construction of his hotel in New York. of testing diferent speed and power settings to fnd what combination Te idea to tie it to under-reported news stemmed from comparing the was necessary to replicate the standards laid out in the Americans with content and quality of the journalism I fnd myself reading from a variety Disabilities Act. of sources, both print and digital, versus what one encounters on television I chose to ink the raised dots to give them some visual interest while broadcast, especially networks that are solely dedicated to news 24/7. still leaving the majority of the piece as a tactile experience. Each strip was It was not so much a matter of what is presented than what is lef out, adhered directly to the wall using clear adhesive with the idea of salon style and a big harm that can come from this is complacency – “I watch the display being loosely followed. Lighting was kept minimal to lead viewers to news all the time, I always have CNN/MSNBC/Fox News on so of course the piece without illuminating it out of existence. I’m informed.” Te government shutdown was reported on constantly with digital graphics displaying the time since the shutdown began and everyone was pulled in for opinion pieces, but it usually required going beyond the screen to fnd that the shutdown cost the economy upwards of $11 billion.4 Others, such as gigantic chasm of incarceration rates between the US and the rest of the OECD countries in the world (we have more than the next two countries on the list combined as of 2018), just don’t make for good ratings and aren’t typically brought up.5 Tis led in part to the use of Braille; the information is there and easy access if some efort is made on the viewer’s part, and the curiosity of wondering exactly what the strips on the wall actually say may inspire research not only into how to read them but also further investigate the information they’re presenting. Clear acrylic was chosen as the material for making the Braille strips due both to being visually minimal aesthetically and the ability to work with them using the laser cutter. Researching the form led me to an online
23 24 Undoing Progress and Redacted Undoing Progress (performance and video/sound installation) and unnecessary contribution cap, along with a smaller generation of tax payers Redacted (digital prints) address the unraveling of our societal progress that contributing to the fund following a large one now collecting from the has been taking place at an accelerating pace since as far back as the 1980s. program, it appears as though it will become insolvent. Brown v. Board of Education and public education in general? Slowly cut funding to education Tis unraveling is ofen through a process of small moves rather than while promoting “school choice” by diverting tax dollars to voucher big actions. Te Voting Rights Act, for example, sought to make voting programs for private and religious schools which are not beholden to the easier – especially for minority communities which were all but barred same regulations as public schools, thus creating an artifcial tiered system. from voting in some states – by outlawing policies like literacy tests as Trial by jury as guaranteed by the 6th Amendment? Bypass juries entirely well as requiring districts to provide multi-lingual ballots for those whom by ofering plea deals which incentivizes pleading guilty over defending English isn’t their frst language. But since this time states and law makers one’s innocence until it appears that a juried trial is a major risk, which have found other avenues to curtail voting rights for certain groups, such consequentially gives judges singular authority to determine exactly what as moving or closing polling locations or gerrymandering to undermine laws were violated, to what degree, and what the fnes and sentences are. particular communities’ representation in governmental bodies. Most recently, the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby County v Holder struck down Court cases are all but overturned, laws rewritten, and societal norms the mechanisms within the act that required certain districts with a history dismantled one line at a time, hidden from view yet right out in the open of voter suppression to receive approval from the U.S. Attorney General or for all to see. It becomes background noise, ignorable but unavoidable, a the U.S. District Court for D.C. before making any signifcant changes to constant annoyance you can do nothing about. their voting structures. Tis, along with lax enforcement of existing voting Assuming you’ve tried to stop it. laws, has all but nullifed the Voting Rights Act in some areas. “Creeping normality” (also sometimes called “death by a thousand cuts”) is a phrase attributed to American scientist Jared Diamond in 2005.8 It’s the idea that major change that would be considered objectionable go unnoticed, or are even accepted, if they happen slowly over time. Eliminating Social Security outright would cause riots in the street, but the idea of privatizing it (which could have a similar afect to eliminating it) becomes palatable if, through years of small cuts and maintaining an
25 26 27 28 29 30 Undoing Progress came about as a way to express my perception of stroke is made. Tis methodical pace, with the aid of a microphone hidden what the current administration is doing to the laws and legislation that in the shade of the lamp, projected the sound out into the space with the hold together the US society, specifcally, well, undoing it. Te marker intent to draw attention to an action usually used away from public view. and line by line redaction became the most intuitive way to express this, Te particular documents used were selected based upon their relevance as redaction is a technique ofen used in legal spheres. Usually this is to to current political tensions, specifcally those that the current parties with protect legitimately sensitive information – someone’s home address and the frmest grip on power would like to see repealed or eliminated. Tese phone number on a letter to a Senator being used in a legal proceeding include Roe v. Wade, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, Obergefell probably doesn’t need to be released to the public and may actually be v. Hodges, Miranda v. Arizona, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and laws compromising for the individual – but its use can also change context establishing Social Security and a minimum wage. Te Constitution itself is entirely. Redacting a name makes it impossible to know who did something also redacted since the guiding principles it sought to establish seem to be or who had something done to them. Redacting a number can render a chipped away at every other day. study meaningless. Selectively redacting whole sentences or paragraphs can change the entire meaning of a document, and redacting all of the text Two large format digital prints were displayed on the walls that fanked makes it disappear. the desk. Tese were one page summaries of Brown v. Board of Education and Obergefell v. Hodges with their decisions blocked by rolling black (I should note at this time that this project was entirely conceived and lithography ink over the text. Te ink used produced an iridescent fnish, laid out months before William Barr’s redacted edit of Robert Mueller’s an unintended but welcome outcome. investigative report was released on April 1 8th. Te fact that it occurred two days before the opening of Covering the Record is a case of ironic Afer the opening, a monitor was mounted next to the desk, displaying coincidence.) a video recording in which a pair of anonymous hands redact the Voting Rights Act in a similar manner to the performance. Te setup was to mirror that of an ofcial, if minimal, ofce desk setup. It featured only a lamp to illuminate the actions as the only source of light, the document that was actively being redacted, the documents that had already been redacted, and the markers used in the act. Te markers used, wide tipped Pilot markers, were selected both for the bold marks they make and the loud squeaking sound that they can produce when the proper
31 32 Walled Fenced In/Out Walled Fenced In/Out is a to-scale projection of a segment of the families and obstructing migratory routes. Tere is also the construction proposed steel barrier along the US-Mexico border based on an image in phase to consider, which would have far-reaching impact on the fora, a Tweet from the sitting president on December 21st, 2018. Te dimensions fauna, and the landscape itself. Roads will have to be built in areas where and other fgures about the hypothetical structure are derived from an there are currently none, heavy construction equipment isn’t exactly gentle analysis by Philip Bump in a piece he wrote in the Washington Post titled on the sites they work in, and even if restoration eforts are made there’s no “Based on Trump’s detailed diagram of his slat wall, here’s some advanced guarantee the area would recover – a clear-cut forest does not necessarily mathematics.”9 A quick summary of this article is that, using a vehicle become a forest again even if new trees are planted. included in the diagram as an analog, Bump calculates that each slat And what of the impact on people, on society? Te most directly (and would be roughly ten inches wide with nine-inch gaps in between each slat probably least considered) are the native peoples whose territories span and 28 to 29f tall depending on whether you consider the spikes on top. the political borders between the US and Mexico and, currently, either live Appropriately 4.6 million slats that would be needed to span the 1,954 mile in areas where a wall does not exist or have been granted special rights border with Mexico (if you exclude the 580 miles that already have some to cross existing barriers without having to go through a regulated port sort of physical barrier in place, and the 7.2 combined miles that make up of entry. Volumes have already been written on how a wall which would the 48 ports of entry between the two countries). Again quoting Bump’s quite literally run-down Main Street could afect these communities (if you numbers, which presume the walls of each slat to be one inch, a minimum take some efort to look for them) and I cannot do the topic justice here of nine million cubic feet of steel would be required at a cost of $1.5 billion so I will instead consider the barrier from a semantic viewpoint. A wall is based on “current [steel] prices”. Tese fgures only account for the steel a tool with multiple uses, but it primarily exists to divide. Tis can be an necessary from the ground up, which means the cost would increase important feature – the walls that make up a house hold up the roof and considerably once the amount of steel and other materials necessary to protect the interior from the elements while dividing the interior space into extend the slats into the ground are factored in. Labor and equipment costs rooms with specifc purposes for example. Dams and levees are walls meant would also add to the grand total. to contain and control bodies of water, and highways ofen have walls Tese numbers are very important, but what would the other impacts around them to keep things from getting onto the roadways and potentially from such a structure be? Te potential impact on wildlife is obvious – causing accidents as well as dampening the noise from the highway for plants and animals observe no borders. Smaller creatures would still be nearby neighborhoods. But what about around your home, your school, able to pass through with little inconvenience, but larger animals such as your place of work? Tey can be used to mark property, but they are not bison, bighorn sheep, and wolves would be stopped entirely, splitting up always necessary for this purpose. Ofentimes the boundary can just be
33 34 understood – it’s that line roughly between those two trees where you For displaying the wall, projection was chosen as both a practical means neighbor stops mowing knowing that you’ll pick it up from there. It’s as well as a way to propose the idea of being kept in or out simultaneously. where the speed limit drops on weekdays when classes are in session, or the Te dimensions roughly match those that Phillip Bump fgured out commercial district downtown near the bus stop. What happens when walls from Trump’s Tweeted drawing – ten inch wide bars, nine inch gaps, are erected here? Your neighbor doesn’t come over to chat as ofen as they and between 28 - 29f tall. From these numbers I was able to fgure out used to, and you never know when they’re having the cook outs you used to the dimensions an image would have to be to match Bump’s using our drop in on. Te kids’ complaints comparing school to prison seem slightly equipment projecting across the width of the gallery onto the tall walls. In less melodramatic, and you start having similar thoughts about your job as addition to the spectacle of being confronted with such a large form close you show your I.D. to the guard as you go through the gate to the employee up, as someone approached the projection they would cast shadows onto parking lot. the gallery walls, or, from a diferent perspective, the border wall would be projected onto them and they would be “behind the wall”. What would a wall at the Southern border – 4.6 million nearly 30f tall steel bars – do? Most of the drugs lawmakers love to cite are smuggled Te next version of this work would simply be more, fll a larger span of through legal ports of entry, and violent crime across the country has been a wall with these bars and, if possible, set the projectors at a lower height so on a largely downward trend.10, 11 Is the wall to keep “them” out or us in, is viewers would “wind up on the other side of the fence” further away from its purpose to protect us or to contain us? the gallery wall.
35 36 Thoughts and Prayers
Aurora,Colorado July 20, 2012 12 dead 70 wounded 37 Sandy Hook Elementary School December 14, 2012 28 dead 2 wounded 38 San Bernardino, California December 2 2015 28 dead 2 wounded 39 Pulse Nightclub, Orlando, FL June 12, 2016 50 dead 53 wounded 40 41 Las Vegas Strip, NV October 1, 2017 59 dead 851 wounded 42 43 Sutherland Springs Church, TX November 5, 2017 27 dead 20 wounded 44 Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL February 14, 2018 17 dead 17 wounded 2 survivors committed suicide March 2019 45 Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation, Pittsburg, PA November 4, 2018 11 dead 7 wounded 46 Santa Fe High School, TX May 18, 2018 10 dead 14 wounded (an exercise in verbiage) 48 Te phrase “thoughts and prayers” has become synonymous with New Zealand legislature introduced proposals to strengthen their gun laws. frivolous politics. Since and including the 2012 Aurora, Colorado theater Will strengthening gun laws stop all gun assaults? Probably not, plenty shootings there have been no less than eleven mass shootings in the U.S. of damage can be done with legally purchased frearms even with high (using the defnition of “mass shooting” from the non-proft Gun Violence regulation, and people will fnd other means to acquire weapons if they Archive which classifes a mass shooting as one which “four or more shot can no longer get them as easily as they can now. But this should not be and/or killed in a single event [incident], at the same general time and a deterrent, an excuse to throw our hands up in the air and exclaim that location, not including the shooter.”12 Te FBI does not have an ofcial if it won’t solve the problem 100% then we might as well do nothing. A defnition of mass shooting). In this time, the record for number of deaths Quinnipiac University Poll from March 2019 shows that 93% of Americans, has been surpassed twice, with the 49 deaths at the Orlando, FL Pulse including 89% of Republicans, would be in favor of requiring background Nightclub shooting surpassing the 32 deaths from the 2007 Virginia Tech checks for all gun purchases.14 Polls by POLITICO from 2018 show a trend shooting, only to be surpassed a year and four months later at the 2017 of people wanting better gun control measures in general.15 Doing nothing Las Vegas shooting which lef 59 dead. Las Vegas also saw the highest will only ensure that nothing improves. It’s become clear that, if nothing number of gun related injuries at 422, signifcantly higher than the second else, people want more than “thoughts and prayers.” highest per injuries, the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas shooting at 32.13 Afer Te piece itself works of the perspective of throwaway, both in sentiment these travesties we go through the same cycle: politicians send out their and gesture. Te forms participants could fll out contained all of the press releases (mostly in the form of Tweets in the years since the Aurora same jargon ofen regurgitated by politicians afer such events, including shooting) with their “thoughts and prayers” and any suggestion of gun brushing aside gun control because “it’s too soon” or even insinuating that control are defected or dismissed. Lines like “It’s too soon to debate gun more guns would have been the solution. Afer sliding the form into the laws, we must allow time to grieve,” “Te shooter would have just obtained slot it is destroyed by a hidden paper shredder before dropping onto the their weapon illegally,” “A good guy with a gun could have stopped him,” foor and, while a record remains, it is ultimately forgotten, a parallel to “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” “Tis is why we need to keep how most shootings are also forgotten by all except friends and family of these (fll in the racial/religious minority of your choice here) out of our the victims. Everything is laid out to be as emotionless as possible, like a country,” are trotted out while any proposals for new laws are dismissed survey, with the intention to get people to refect on their own responses before they ever make it to the foor of Congress for a vote. to shootings – it’s not a means to lay guilt on them but to demonstrate that On March 15, 2019 a shooter in Christchurch, New Zealand killed 50 more can be done, and hopefully those who can address the issue will get a individuals before being apprehended by police. In less than a month the few phone calls in the near future.
49 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5
-1 Temperature Change (ºF)Temperature
300 350 400 50 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 Trend Line (is this enough data?) 1.5 Trend Line (is this enough data?) is representation of the mass of climate for it despite their commander in chief denying the threat in his daily data scientists have presented supporting the reality of anthropomorphic tweets. Te majority of the country agrees that there is an issue (even climate change. though there’s disagreements on its severity due in part to misinformation campaigns). It seems the only hardcore sect of disbelievers are the “I’m not a scientist.” 1 individuals taking in the most money from the polluting industries. To say Whenever a politician utters these four words or anything akin to this they’re fddling while Rome burns seems almost too appropriate. statement their mic should be cut and a reputable, impartial scientist in Niel deGrasse Tyson is quoted saying “the good thing about Science is the topical feld should be brought to the foor to fact check the politician that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”16 Te unfortunate reality in real-time. Te problem is that too many people would still believe the about US policy is that it does not have to take truth into account when 0.5 politician, or at least their preferred narrative, over the scientist. creating policy, and ofen chooses to ignore it entirely. Climate scientists Te techniques are ofen the same: cherry-pick data, look only at the have assembled over 1700 years’ worth of data supporting the reality that short term, decry that it will negatively afect the economy, complain climate change is happening, that it is a problem, and that it is something that others nations aren’t doing their part so why should we (where’s that we must address immediately. 0 hard-working American spirit?), even just straight up deny its existence. A trend line spanning over 1700 years, is this enough data? Addressing climate change is an issue some politicians want nothing to do with. Teir fnanciers demand nothing less despite it being to the nation’s detriment. But rather than come forth with their confict of interest, the -0.5 same tired excuses are trolleyed out: we’ll lose jobs (never mind that the renewable energy sectors continue to create jobs at a faster pace than oil, gas, or coal), it’ll be too much of a burden on our way of life (again, where’s that hard-working American spirit?), no one else is doing anything about it
-1 (clean energy sectors continue to rise in Europe and China), and, of course, U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 Temperature Change (ºF)Temperature why do something about a “non-existent problem”? Tere is a problem though. Te scientifc community has been saying so for decades. Te US military recognizes it and is taking steps to prepare Agresti, James D., Dugle, Schuyler & Bukovec, Steven. “Global Warming Facts.” Just Facts. September Web. 10 2018.
-1 Temperature Change (ºF)Temperature
300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 1.5 1.5 1 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 -0.5 -0.5 U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 -1 -1 U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 Temperature Change (ºF)Temperature Temperature Change (ºF)Temperature Melillo, Jerry M., (T.C.) Terese Richmond, and Climate Gary Change Eds., Yohe, Impacts 2014: W. in the United The States: Third Assessment. Climate National Agresti, James D., Dugle, Schuyler & Bukovec, Steven. “Global Warming Facts.” Just Facts. September Web. 10 2018.
-1 U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 U.S. Global Change Research Program, pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2. 841 Temperature Change (ºF)Temperature
300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 54 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050 3000 3050 Melillo, Jerry M., (T.C.) Terese Richmond, and Climate Gary Change Eds., Yohe, Impacts 2014: W. in the United The States: Third Assessment. Climate National Agresti, James D., Dugle, Schuyler & Bukovec, Steven. “Global Warming Facts.” Just Facts. September Web. 10 2018.
300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050 55 3000 3050 Melillo, Jerry M., (T.C.) Terese Richmond, and Climate Gary Change Eds., Yohe, Impacts 2014: W. in the United The States: Third Assessment. Climate National Agresti, James D., Dugle, Schuyler & Bukovec, Steven. “Global Warming Facts.” Just Facts. September Web. 10 2018.
57 58 Citations
1. Paschal, Olivia. “Te Backlash to New Rules on Protests in D.C.” Te Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 16 Oct. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/new-rules-could-curb- protests-dc/572944/, Accessed 3 May 2019. 2. Res, Barbara. “Trump and His Flunkies: Why Aren’t Stafers Standing up to Him?” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2018, www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-trump- and-his-funkies-20180911-story.html, Accessed 3 May 2019. 3. “History of Braille.” Braille Works, brailleworks.com/braille-resources/history-of-braille/, Accessed 3 May 2019. 4. McCarthy, Niall. “Te Government Shutdown Cost Te U.S. Economy $11 Billion [Infographic].” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 Jan. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/01/30/the- government-shutdown-cost-the-u-s-economy-11-billion-infographic/#72e22dae260e, Accessed 3 May 2019. 5. ICPR. “Incarceration Rates in Oecd Countries as of 2018.” Statista - Te Statistics Portal, Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/300986/incarceration-rates-in-oecd-countries/, Accessed 3 May 2019. 6. “Braille Translator.” Developed by Tobias Reinhardt, Braille Translator, Spikerog SAS, www.brailletranslator.org/, Accessed 3 May 2019. 7. Dunnam, Jennifer. “Size and Spacing of Braille Characters.” Braille Authority of North America, Braille Authority of North America, www.brailleauthority.org/sizespacingofraille/ sizespacingofraille.pdf, Accessed 3 May 2019. 8. Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Penguin, 2011. 9. Bump, Philip. “Based on Trump’s Detailed Diagram of His Slat Wall, Here Is Some Advanced Mathematics.” Te Washington Post, WP Company, 23 Dec. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/ politics/2018/12/23/based-trumps-detailed-diagram-his-slat-wall-we-did-some-advanced-mathematics/?utm_term=.30178fc4221e, Accessed 3 May 2019. 10. Gomez, Alan. “Fact-Checking Trump Ofcials: Most Drugs Enter US through Legal Ports of Entry, Not Vast, Open Border.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 16 Jan. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/16/fact-check-mike-pence-donald-trump-drugs-crossing-southern-border-wall/2591279002/, Accessed 3 May 2019. 11. FBI. “Reported Violent Crime Rate in Te United States from 1990 to 2017.” Statista - Te Statistics Portal, Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/191219/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the- usa-since-1990/, Accessed 3 May 2019. 12. “Gun Violence Archive.” Gun Violence Archive, www.gunviolencearchive.org/methodology, Accessed 3 May 2019. 13. Figures taken from Wikipedia but can be cross referenced using the tools on the Gun Violence Archive page, https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports, Accessed 3 May 2019. 14. Quinnipiac University. “QU Poll Release Detail.” QU Poll, Quinnipiac University, 6 Mar. 2019, poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2604, Accessed 3 May 2019. 15. Shepard, Steven, and Elana Schor. “Gun Control Support Surges in Polls.” POLITICO, 28 Feb. 2018, www.politico.com/story/2018/02/28/gun-control-polling-parkland-430099, Accessed 3 May 2019. 16. @neiltyson. “Te good thing about Science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” Twitter, 14 Jun. 2013, 7:41 a.m., https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/345551599382446081. 17. Melillo, Jerry M., Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and Gary W. Yohe, Eds., 2014: Climate Change Impacts in the United States: Te Tird National Climate Assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program, 841 pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2.
59 60 Photo Credits Technology Credits
Page 22: Weiyang Song Obscuring American Values Trend Line (is this enough data?) Page 24: Cindy DeFelice Epilog Legend 36EXT Canon iPF 6400 large format digital printer Page 25: Joseph Scheer Speedball Arnhem 1682 paper Canon Heavy-weight Matte Coated Paper Page 28: Weiyang Song Hanco Ink: Refex Blue – Red Shade B-1245 Litho Ink (discontinued color) Hanco Ink: Archival Process Black Litho Ink Page 32: Weiyang Song Toshiba e-studio 5506ac printer/copier (small series) Page 34: Samantha Leopold-Sullivan information in plain sight Page 54: Samantha Leopold-Sullivan Untitled ( ) Epilog Legend 36EXT Page 56: Peer Bode Page 58: Weiyang Song Undoing Progress Page 60: Samantha Leopold-Sullivan Audio-technica ATW-1823D wireless microphone (performance) MedeaWiz Sprite video repeater (monitor display) All other photos taken by Devin Henry. Sony BRAVIA KDL40EX720 digital display (monitor display) Dayton Audio DTA-100a Class-T Digital Mini Amplifer Tannoy Reveal Speakers Pilot Super Color Marker SCA-6600 (wide and broad) Redacted Canon iPF 6400 large format digital printer Canon Heavy-weight Matte Coated Paper Hanco Ink: Archival Process Black Litho Ink Walled Fenced In/Out MedeaWiz Sprite video repeater BenQ SP891 DLP projector Toughts and Prayers (an exercise in verbiage) Aurora AS680S 6-sheet Strip Cut Paper/Credit Card Shredder
61 Covering the Record – MFA Tesis 2019
Tesis Committee Barbara Lattanzi – Chair William Contino Xiaowen Chen Laura McGough
Robert C. Turner Gallery 2 Pine Street Alfred, NY 14802
Fonts used: Minion Pro, Frutiger LT Std, Braille Normal, and zai Olivetti-Underwood Studio 21 Typewriter
Book pages printed by Alfred State Press. Specialty pages printed by the Dingbat Press. Hand assembled.
Copyright © 2019 by Devin Henry – https://twitter.com/DevinHenry_Art
Many thanks to (in no particular order): My mother (Kim Henry), my sister (Paige Henry), the rest of the family, Pamela Susan-Hawkins, Nadine Hoover, Sarah Mandolang, Fenna Mandolang, Sam Sloan, Mark Klingensmith, Don Weinhart, Cindy DeFelice, Janna Buckwalter, Miles Calvert, Joseph Scheer, William Contino, Barbara Lattanzi, Laura McGough, Peer Bode, Epilog Legend 36EXT, Tim Pauszek, Alex Williams, Hope Zaccagni, Andrew Deutsch, Kathy Vadja, Xiaowen Chen, Judy Livingston, Coral Lambert, Ron Lambert, Brian Newman, David Greene, Billie Burns, Betsy Kent, Shelly Grant, Gerar Edizel, Dan Napolitano, Jesse Plass, Lan Wang, Tim McKee, Caleb Mitchell, John Hosford, Sharon McConnell, Samantha Leopold-Sullivan, Aodi Liang, Leslie Rollins, Weiyang Song, all of the NYSCC technical specialist and support staf, Tinkertown, Te Rogue Carrot, Nana’s, Alfred State Press, and Charlie, my feline companion.
In memoriam Matt Underwood, MFA 2018
Electronic Integrated Arts @ Alfred University xpanded edia