Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
New York, New York

Witness: Perspectives on Police Violence, was installed in the sanctuary of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York in November and December of 1999. Viewers crossed over a threshold into another person's experience as they entered corridors of the central nave and listened to the audio testimonials of police officers, activists, grieving parents, and other witnesses of police violence. The image of each witness, looming on the granite walls in a 25-foot high video projection slowed to the point of near immobility, confronted the viewers. Subtle juxtapositions of images and text dominated many aspects of the cathedral installation. The various elements of Witness created a synergy when viewed together, enabling viewers to consider issues of police violence, brutality, and misconduct in experiential rather than didactic terms.

Many different elements were used in the installation, including Media Role, a 47­ foot collage of news articles reporting on ten years of police brutality and misconduct cases and the Call Boxes are touring the public streets of New York during the fall of 2000. Also exhibited were illuminated photographs of locations where police violence took place, such as the exterior of a police car and, the sidewalk where Gerald Papa, who was brutally beaten in a case of mistaken identity.