The United States accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, but is responsible
for nearly 22% of those in prison globally—more than 2 million people. Americans
almost never see the suffering and deeply inhuman conditions prisoners endure.
Prisoners often languish—voiceless, powerless, and unable to connect with the
outside world—and then receive little to no support when they are released and
attempt to reintegrate into society.
The Writing on the Wall, a collaboration between Mural Arts Center, Hank Willis
Thomas, Baz Dreisinger, and MASS Design Group, is a traveling exhibition and
installation constructed from essays, poems, letters, stories, diagrams and notes
written by individuals in prison around the world. The design references the
palimpsest-like writing on the walls of prison cells throughout history and layers
these onto a series of scrolls hung from an aluminum frame. Pathways and voids
within the densely hung scrolls invite viewers to participate in the installation
by walking through the hanging scrolls and literally immersing themselves in
the written content printed on the scrolls. By allowing viewers to experience
the narrative details, thoughts, and emotions of prisoners, those prisoners are
humanized while viewers are confronted with the crisis of our criminal justice
system.
The United States accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, but is responsible
for nearly 22% of those in prison globally—more than 2 million people. Americans
almost never see the suffering and deeply inhuman conditions prisoners…