Since I was a child I’ve had a fascination with planes and flight. When I was 12, I was a cadet with the Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the US Air Force that promotes aerospace education. A regular activity for the squadron was weekend flights. For the past few years, I’ve integrated flight into my art. This picture of me in the 1920’s Bi-Plane was part of a public art project sponsored by 4Culture in which I created work based on the walking trail system in King County. In 2010, I participated in a pilot program by the Vintage Aircraft Association in which I had the opportunity to ride in the legendary B-17 Bomber and created a film based on the experience. With less than 10 still actively flying, this was a wonderful rare opportunity. Pictured: in a 1920s bi-plane before takeoff.

I was commissioned to create a series of events along the trail system in Washington State. I wrote compositions based on the long walks. I performed along the trail with a 1/10 sized cello picture in the image before this example. This composition was written to reflect on the stillness of nature in the early morning.

I was commissioned to create a series of events along the trail system in Washington State. I wrote compositions based on the long walks. I performed for campers, hikers and others along the trail with a 1/8 sized cello picture here.

Civil rights, and human rights for all, are a reoccurring theme in my art. A past public art project involves the community of Tacoma, WA and the city’s human rights legacy. Before the artwork is created for People’s Park, I met with numerous community organizations and completed residencies as a teaching artist at two elementary schools, a middle school, and the Boys and Girls Club. For the past four months, I’ve enjoyed finding new ways to creatively engage the community and encourage dialogue on the important issue of human rights in the past, present, and future. Cast Glass Granite Poetry

Composed, recorded, arranged by Paul Rucker 32 channel sound installation. Paul Rucker - Cello Hans Teuber - Alto Sax

I've been commissioned to create public art. Here are a few of the works: Museum of Flight pedestrian Bridge - Tukwila, WA The 32-channel permanent sound installation commissioned by the Museum of Flight in Seattle presented the opportunity to integrate sound in a one-of-a-kind structure. The 40-minute program of soundscapes, field recordings and new compositions offered a new delivery method for my art. This piece incorporates such elements as recorded Boeing airplanes on the assembly line, the Blue Angels in flight, and new compositions. ______ Human Rights Legacy - Tacoma, WA Civil rights, and human rights for all, are a reoccurring theme in my art. A past public art project involves the community of Tacoma, WA and the city’s human rights legacy. Before the artwork is created for People’s Park, I met with numerous community organizations and completed residencies as a teaching artist at two elementary schools, a middle school, and the Boys and Girls Club. For the past four months, I’ve enjoyed finding new ways to creatively engage the community and encourage dialogue on the important issue of human rights in the past, present, and future. ______ Vintage Aircraft Association Vintage Aircraft Association commissioned me to create a film based on my experience flying in a B-17 bomber (only 10 actively flying). As part of this work I've also flown a helicopter, and a 1920s bi-plane. Pure Data 32- channels audio Sampled and found sounds Music composition

Excessive Use 190gsm paper Bullet holes Plywood Target holders 2013 Excessive Use – a series of works on paper created with the 44 caliber Glock 22 semi automatic pistol. Like Soundless Series, pieces in Excessive Use are named by the city and date of the event. Excessive Use January 1, 2009 Oscar Grant III Oscar Grant III was fatally shot by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer, Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California, United States, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded BART train returning from San Francisco, BART police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant, who was lying face down and allegedly resisting arrest. Officer Mehserle stood and, according to witnesses, said: "Get back, I'm gonna tase him.” Then Mehserle drew his gun and shot Grant once in the back; Mehserle appeared stunned, put his hands to his head and exclaimed, "Oh, my God!" During his court testimony, Mehserle said that Grant then exclaimed, "You shot me!" Grant turned out to be unarmed; he was pronounced dead the next morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland. February 4, 1999 Amadou Bailo Diallo Amadou Bailo Diallo was a 23-year-old immigrant from Guinea who was shot and killed in New York City on February 4, 1999 by four New York City Police Department plain-clothed officers: Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss, who fired a combined total of 41 shots, 19 of which struck Diallo, outside his apartment at 1157 Wheeler Ave in the Soundview section of The Bronx. The four were part of the now-defunct Street Crimes Unit. All four officers were acquitted at trial in Albany, New York. In the early morning of February 4, 1999, Diallo was standing near his building after returning from a meal. Police officers Edward McMellon, Sean Carroll, Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy passed by in a Ford Taurus. Observing that Diallo matched the description of a since-captured well-armed serial rapist involved in the rape or attempted rape of 51 victims, they approached him. The officers were in plain clothes. The officers claimed they loudly identified themselves as NYPD officers and that Diallo ran up the outside steps toward his apartment house doorway at their approach, ignoring their orders to stop and "show his hands". The porch lightbulb was out and Diallo was backlit by the inside vestibule light, showing only a silhouette. Diallo then reached into his jacket and withdrew his wallet. Seeing the suspect holding a small square object, Carroll yelled "Gun!" to alert his colleagues. Mistakenly believing Diallo had aimed a gun at them at close range, the officers opened fire on Diallo. During the shooting, lead officer McMellon tripped backward off the front stairs, causing the other officers to believe he had been shot. The four officers fired 41 shots, more than half of which went astray as Diallo was hit 19 times. The post-shooting investigation found no weapons on Diallo's body. The internal NYPD investigation ruled the officers had acted within policy. August 30, 2010 John T. Williams John T. Williams, a 50-year-old seventh generation Nitinaht carver of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, was shot four times (5 bullets fired) by a Seattle police officer Ian Birk on August 30, 2010. He died at the scene. His only crime appears to have been walking across the street carrying a carving knife and a chunk of cedar. The officer thought it was important to find out what was going on and why this person had an open-blade knife in public. Seattle Police Departments Deputy Chief Nick Metz said Birk got out of his car, approached Williams from behind and ordered the woodcarver to drop the knife three times. When Williams failed to do so within four seconds, Officer Birk fired his weapon five times from a distance of 10 feet. Williams was struck by four bullets, including one lethal shot to the chest wall, and died at the scene. In its initial statement to the press, SPD described Williams as having been “advancing towards” Officer Birk, who felt threatened and responded by firing his weapon. Over the next few days, eyewitnesses began stepping forward to dispute this version of events, and the police department quickly retracted its statement. November 25, 2006 Sean Bell The Sean Bell shooting incident took place in the New York City borough of Queens, New York on November 25, 2006, when three men were shot at a total of fifty times by a team of both plainclothes and undercover NYPD officers, killing one of the men, Sean Bell, on the morning before his wedding, and severely wounding two of his friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman. The New York Post reported that, according to an unnamed undercover officer, Joseph Guzman had an argument inside the club with a woman and threatened to get a gun. One of Bell's friends was heard to say, "Yo, get my gun" as they left the scene. Fearing a shooting might occur, African-American plain-clothed officer Gescard Isnora followed the men to their car while alerting his backup team, prompting the team to confront Bell and his companions before they could leave the scene. Isnora "held out his badge (by his account), identified himself as a police officer, and ordered the driver to stop." Instead, Bell accelerated the car and hit Isnora, then hit an unmarked police minivan. By all accounts, Gescard Isnora thought he saw Guzman reach for a gun while in the car, yelled "Gun!" to other police at the scene, and opened fire on the car. The other officers and detectives joined him in shooting at the car, firing 50 bullets in a few seconds. Three of the five detectives involved in the shooting went to trial on charges ranging from manslaughter to reckless endangerment, and were found not guilty. This unfortunately is an ongoing series.

I Started to Make a Gun 3D printed Liberator gun Custom colors Permanently incomplete 2013 I Started to Make a Gun – explores emotions related to creating a potentially deadly device with a 3D printer. I used the filed readily available online to make the gun. I intentionally did not complete the gun...

While in residency at Pilchuck Glass School in 2010 I created a series of sand casted items.

In 2010 I had the honor of being invited for a residency at the Pilchuck School of Glass. During this time, I had two and a half weeks of experimentation with I medium I knew little about. I created musical instruments from blown glass – such as the Seussaphone shown here – and exploring other techniques such as sand casting, print making, mold blown and cold working. The Seussaphone – so named for its resemblance to an instrument one might find in a story by Dr. Seuss – is a one-of-a kind instrument that is played like a bugle, but lower in pitch. The embouchure of the player and the hand moving around a hole on the bottom of the bell allows the player to manipulate pitch and tone. Horn is in the key of B.

Original target commercially sold. After the 911 call came out in which we find out that Trayvon was folowed, someone in the US started selling these targets. I modified this target to create One Less Thing to Worry About.

One Less Thing to Worry About Digital print Safe Concealed weapons permit Glock 22 semi automatic pistol 3 full clips of ammunition (45 rounds) 2013 One Less Thing to Worry About – an installation utilizing the image of a widely sold target that I drastically modified. The image has the likeness of a hooded individual carrying Skittles and watermelon juice cocktail. The safe securely contains my concealed weapons permit, a Glock 22 semi automatic pistol, and 3 full clips of ammunition (45 rounds). (30 rounds in Maryland- State Law: You can't have a clip with more than 10 rounds)

Every object has a sound. I enjoy performing in galleries and creating live, improvised sonic interpretations of artwork, whether it’s paintings from the Renaissance Period, or modern sculptures. I have performed live sonic interpretations of works such as Nick Cave’s sound suit exhibit, Meet Me at the Center of the Earth, sculpture by Alexander Calder, and various paintings throughout the Baroque Room of the Seattle Art Museum. I've also performed Sonic Interpretations at Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, as well as the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Every object has a sound. I enjoy performing in galleries and creating live, improvised sonic interpretations of artwork, whether it’s paintings from the Renaissance Period, or modern sculptures. I have performed live sonic interpretations of works such as Nick Cave’s sound suit exhibit, Meet Me at the Center of the Earth, sculpture by Alexander Calder, and various paintings throughout the Baroque Room of the Seattle Art Museum. I've also performed Sonic Interpretations at Yerba Buena in San Francisco, as well as the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Digital Media Station: Participants can upload and share digital images and movies. In the background, visitors receive massages. Performing, writing, sharing of art was encouraged in the space. Organized and spontaneous conversations took place regularly with tea and lunch served. A weekly open mic took place on a custom built stage. Unplanned spontaneous events happened all throughout day. Dance, performance art, music, and poetry.

February 21 - March 16, 2014 As the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation Research Fellow and Artist in Residence, I invited MICA students, faculty, staff, and neighbors to participate in The Empathy Project, an interactive exhibition, and a series of conversations and performances. The events are intended to continue intercultural conversations in the community about diversity, difference, and global perspectives. In an interview, I explained some of my thinking related to the project: “It’s vital for artists to step outside their comfort zones. Not just with new mediums, but also with new approaches and ways of thinking. One of the many challenges in life is to try and make sense or understand the ‘why?’ of everyday observations. We no doubt spend most of our time looking at things from our own perspective — things not only in the news, but also in the classroom, as well as walking home... Even when we see that someone else has a problem, we think about how we would solve the problem, often without taking into account possible disparities in resources or options. This project is not about solving another’s problem, or feeling sorry for someone. It’s about understanding, walking in their shoes, without judgment, or the expectation of a clean resolution.”

This image shows work post-milling, before finishing.

Showing the process. This is the Padouk wood after it has gone through the milling process, oil and stain. The purfling has also been added.

Showing the process. This is the Padouk wood after it has gone through the milling process.

I use CNC technology to create many of my sculptures. This is the model for my standard solo cello. I can mill almost any material. The types of wood used in this project are spruce, maple, pine, layered plywood, bamboo etc. Digital model

11 layer plywood Dimensions: 16x16

Bamboo Dimensions: 16x16

Birch Dimensions: 16x16

13 layer plywood Dimensions: 16x16

(One of a pair of pieces.) Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), was a landmark civil rights decision of the United States Supreme Court which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, who had been sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia for marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state's anti-miscegenation statute, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as "colored". The Supreme Court's unanimous decision held this prohibition was unconstitutional, reversing Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. The decision was followed by an increase in interracial marriages in the U.S., and is remembered annually on Loving Day, June 12. It has been the subject of two movies as well as songs. Beginning in 2013, it was cited as precedent in U.S. federal court decisions holding restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States unconstitutional. Bamboo Dimensions: 16x16

(One of a pair of pieces.) Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), was a landmark civil rights decision of the United States Supreme Court which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, who had been sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia for marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state's anti-miscegenation statute, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as "colored". The Supreme Court's unanimous decision held this prohibition was unconstitutional, reversing Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. The decision was followed by an increase in interracial marriages in the U.S., and is remembered annually on Loving Day, June 12. It has been the subject of two movies as well as songs. Beginning in 2013, it was cited as precedent in U.S. federal court decisions holding restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States unconstitutional. Bamboo Dimensions: 16x16

Performance during Seattle Art Museums REMIX. In the Olympic Sculpture Park 2013.

Puzzle Pieces is a live interactive piece for musicians, and audience participation. Graphic music scores in jars are assembled by the audience, and then performed by musicians.

Puzzle Pieces is a live interactive piece for musicians, and audience participation. Graphic music scores in jars are assembled by the audience, and then performed by musicians. Arts in Nature Festival 2010.

Cello concert of improvised compositions inspired by original clay sculptures created by the audience. This image is from the Jacksonville Jazz Festival 2010.

Cello concert of improvised compositions inspired by original clay sculptures created by the audience. This image is from the Jacksonville Jazz Festival 2010.

Scratch Sound Scratch Sound is an interactive performance utilizing custom-made scratch tickets that determine the mood of the improviser. Audience members are given scratch tickets with three circles and 10 possibilities including 8 basic emotions: (acceptance, anger, anticipation, disgust, joy, fear, sadness, surprise). Not all cards are winners; some scratches will reveal that you must “Try Again.” If “2X BONUS!” is exposed, the participant scratches another circle and receives double that emotion!

Scratch Sound Scratch Sound is an interactive performance utilizing custom-made scratch tickets that determine the mood of the improviser. Audience members are given scratch tickets with three circles and 10 possibilities including 8 basic emotions: (acceptance, anger, anticipation, disgust, joy, fear, sadness, surprise). Not all cards are winners; some scratches will reveal that you must “Try Again.” If “2X BONUS!” is exposed, the participant scratches another circle and receives double that emotion!

Young participant bringing up her piece to be interpreted sonically.

Before I play a musical composition based on the water color painting, I hold the image up and show it to the audience.

I created a series of interactive performances that allow the audience to direct live music by manipulating different mediums including clay, watercolor, graphic score puzzles, instant messaging, and custom scratch tickets. Water from Rattlesnake Lake was used along with leaves, twigs, grass, and branches to paint pieces that I interpreted on cello. Participants were provided with paper and non-staining watercolor paint.

Graphic musical score based on synesthesia. This is #1 in an ongoing series. I used a modified music notation program to create these scores.

I not only created the poster, I composed a short three movement composition to go along with the visuals. I'm playing cello, keyboard, processed toy piano.

I was selected to create the 2011 Bumbershoot Fine Arts poster. “Sustenance” is a combination of photos and music notation, where the raindrops are musical notes and the clouds are phrase markings used in musical notation. A representation of a three-movement composition, it consists of contrasting parts titled nourishment, endurance and strength. The accompanying musical composition will be available as a free download beginning a week prior to the festival.

“Wall of Pieces,” which was on display at Consolidated Works in Seattle , involves 88 images that correspond to 88 keys on a keyboard. Each key plays a composition I’ve composed over the past 25 years. Multiple compositions can be played at one time to create soundscapes of cacophony. MIDI Piano Paper Wood 88 sampled compositions

“Busker” is a performance art piece. This is a 2 minute excerpt from a 40 minute performance near a busy intersection. During the performance not a single note is played.

Sounds Like… Sounds Like… is a sound installation without sound. The four pairings of large images and video are based on the classic elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each pairing also represents a significant event in US history relating to Americans of African descent, and their experiences. From broken promises associated with 40 acres and a mule, to the horrors of lynching, and the murder of Emmett Till, as well as honoring the spirit of those who fought for their rights. Video Images

CATALYST, which was recently shown at the Jack Straw New Media Gallery in Seattle, WA employs a touch screen using xy technology (x being the horizontal coordinate and y being the vertical coordinate on the touch pad): where you touch the screen determines which aspects of the video/audio are altered. Touch Pad New Composition Video Counterfeit Money

Four Score is a play on words, utilizing both Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and four graphic musical scores. Viewers are given MP3 players that contain four corresponding compositions and arrangements. Four Score Year completed 2009 Graphic Music Scores (Paper) Sound (MP3) Dimensions 40 x 60 Four Score is a play on words, utilizing both Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and four graphic musical scores. Viewers are given MP3 players that contain four corresponding compositions and arrangements. I STILL HAVE A DREAM I Still Have a Dream: The Memphis sanitation worker strike happened because of discrimination and poor working conditions. 1,300 workers walked off the job on February 11, 1968. A sign that was used during that time stated: I AM A MAN.

“Happy Ending Machine” enables viewers to rearrange the instrumentation by breaking laser beams. Each laser beam corresponds to a different instrument (saxophone, bass/piano, drums, and guitar), which starts and stops by hand movement. The participant is the Conductor with full control. 100mw Lasers Photo cells Custom Plexiglass Smoke Machine LED lights Arduino Controller Mac Mini

Eleven Conversations is an interactive sound and video installation that allows the viewer to manipulate a video of eleven different cello performances by waving a hand over an infrared beam. The sensor responds to the proximity and speed of the hand. The different compositions mimic different types of conversations, discussions that involve conflict, nostalgia, sadness, and small talk. The use of a low-pass filter processing the audio in real-time creates the illusion that the performance is slowing down and speeding up as it is manipulated by the listener/viewer.

String Quartet performed by SAINT HELENS STRING QUARTET. I used 3 violins instead of 2 violins and viola. This work is based on transatlantic slave trade. The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as slaves; the slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials,which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Voyages on the Middle Passage were a large financial undertaking, and they were generally organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals. The "Middle Passage" was considered a time of in-betweenness for those being traded from Africa to America.

String Quartet performed by SAINT HELENS STRING QUARTET. I used 3 violins and 1 cello instead of 2 violins 1 viola and 1 cello. This work is based on transatlantic slave trade. The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped Africans, who were transported across the Atlantic as slaves; the slaves were then sold or traded for raw materials, which would be transported back to Europe to complete the voyage. Voyages on the Middle Passage were a large financial undertaking, and they were generally organized by companies or groups of investors rather than individuals. The "Middle Passage" was considered a time of in-betweenness for those being traded from Africa to America. The close quarters and intentional division of pre-established African communities by the ship crew motivated captive Africans to forge bonds of kinship which then created forced transatlantic communities. These newly established bonds greatly impacted and altered African identity and culture within each community. It was a significant contributing aspect to the slaves' survival of the "Middle Passage" and carried into their life in America.

OIL CD Day Two Improvised CD Hans Teuber - Alto Sax Paul Rucker - Cello Track Listing Day Two 6:57 OIL 4:16 Pussy in the Sky 3:12 Napal 0:55 Some Are More Equal 4:11 Palmetto 4:59 Feed Your Enemy 1:39 Somber Time 3:46 Day One 11:49

Oil CD Has Teuber - Alto Sax Paul Rucker - Cello Track Listing Day Two 6:57 OIL 4:16 Pussy in the Sky 3:12 Napal 0:55 Some Are More Equal 4:11 Palmetto 4:59 Feed Your Enemy 1:39 Somber Time 3:46 Day One 11:49

Jazz Suite based on the Tuskegee Experiment. Full CD is located here for free: http://paulrucker.com/projects/recordings/history_of_an_apology I also created a comprehensive webpage about the Tuskegee Experiment: http://paulrucker.com/activism/tuskegee_experiment For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 600 black men—399 in the late stages of syphilis and 201 in a control group. These men, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from Macon, one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis. The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of tertiary syphilis, which can include tumors, heart disease, paralysis, blindness, insanity, and death.

ALL THE THINGS I THOUGHT I DIDN'T WANT Work Sample Description This composition utilizes poly-meter and poly-tempo. All the lines except for the lead melody share the same tempo of 120 bpm (beats per minute); the quarter note equals one beat. The lead line is playing at 80 bpm and the dotted quarter note equals one beat. On the chart you can see that the lead line does not line up with the other measures regularly. Looking at the “beat map” from the software, you can see the constant 3rd beat in the bass meets every second beat in the melody. In other words, the relation of 120bpm and 80bpm is as follows: 80bpm x 1.5 = 120 bpm (Dotted quarter note equals 50% greater duration than a quarter note) Jovino Santos Neto—Melodica Hans Teuber—Soprano, Alto Saxophones Jay Roulston—Trumpet Bill Horist—Guitars Jeff Busch—Percussion Jacques Willis—Drums Elizabeth Pupo-Walker—Conga Paul Rucker—Bass Full CD located here: http://paulrucker.com/projects/recordings/history_of_an_apology

Work Sample Description This composition utilizes poly-meter and poly-tempo. All the lines except for the lead melody share the same tempo of 120 bpm (beats per minute); the quarter note equals one beat. The lead line is playing at 80 bpm and the dotted quarter note equals one beat. On the chart you can see that the lead line does not line up with the other measures regularly. Looking at the “beat map” from the software, you can see the constant 3rd beat in the bass meets every second beat in the melody. In other words, the relation of 120bpm and 80bpm is as follows: 80bpm x 1.5 = 120 bpm (Dotted quarter note equals 50% greater duration than a quarter note) Jovino Santos Neto—Melodica Hans Teuber—Soprano, Alto Saxophones Jay Roulston—Trumpet Bill Horist—Guitars Jeff Busch—Percussion Jacques Willis—Drums Elizabeth Pupo-Walker—Conga Paul Rucker—Bass Full CD located here: http://paulrucker.com/projects/recordings/history_of_an_apology

Jazz Suite based on the Tuskegee Experiment in which 600 men from rural Alabama were used as human guinea pigs to see the effects of untreated syphilis. The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was an infamous clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the U.S. Public Health Service to study the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African American men who thought they were receiving free health care from the U.S. government. The Public Health Service started working with the Tuskegee Institute in 1932. Investigators enrolled in the study a total of 600 impoverished sharecroppers from Macon County, Alabama. 399 of those men had previously contracted syphilis before the study began, and 201 did not have the disease. The men were given free medical care, meals, and free burial insurance, for participating in the study. They were never told they had syphilis, nor were they ever treated for it. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the men were told they were being treated for "bad blood", a local term for various illnesses that include syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. ______ History of an Apology: Explanation of Metronomic Time: Most listeners look to the drums and/or bass to find a rhythmic or harmonic reference point. In this composition, the bass is playing in 7/4, and the drums are in 6/4. They share the same tempo, but their patterns meet only once every 42 beats. This can be seen graphically using the Measure Map—see measure 6 of the bass, and measure 7 of the drums. Alternately, the Beat Map on the next page shows that they share the same tempo. The spreadsheet indicates this also, showing the beats lining up. Note that the melody in the tenor saxophone is played freely, with breaks after four-bar phrases. And near the end of the composition, a counter melody comes in from the bass clarinet and flute. This counter melody is played at 144bpm, against the bass and drums that are playing at 138bpm, against the melody, which is again playing at 120bpm. At the very end, when parts dissipate, the drums are easily heard playing in 6. Bill Frisell—Guitar Solo Bill Horist—Guitar Hans Teuber—Saxophones, Flute, Bass Clarinet Michael White—Violin Jeff Busch—Cueca Jacques Willis—Drums Paul Rucker—Acoustic Bass The 40-year study was controversial for reasons related to ethical standards, primarily because researchers knowingly failed to treat patients appropriately after the 1940s validation of penicillin as an effective cure for the disease they were studying. ______ Complete CD can be heard here: http://paulrucker.com/projects/recordings/history_of_an_apology Track Listing i never saw my parents dance 0:21 Every Now and Then... 7:12 History of an Apology 7:18 Parents Dance - part one 7:47 All the Things I Thought I Didn't Want 7:37 Sunday Morning Walk in Jasper Texas 6:14 Lost Years 1:36 Parents Dance - part two 6:40

October 12, 1998 Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming in October 1998. He was attacked on the night of October 6–7, and died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12 from severe head injuries. During the trial, it was widely reported that Shepard was targeted because he was gay. Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. In 2009, his mother Judy Shepard authored a book The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. In October 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (commonly the "Matthew Shepard Act" for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law. On the night of October 6–7, 1998, Shepard met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson for the first time at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming. It was decided that McKinney and Henderson would give Shepard a ride home. McKinney and Henderson subsequently drove the car to a remote, rural area and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Shepard, tying him to a fence and leaving him to die. According to their court testimony, McKinney and Henderson also discovered his address and intended to steal from his home. Still tied to the fence, Shepard, who was still alive but in a coma, was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels, a cyclist who initially mistook Shepard for a scarecrow. Shepard had suffered fractures to the back of his head and in front of his right ear. He experienced severe brainstem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature, and other vital functions. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face, and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. While he lay in intensive care, candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie. Shepard was pronounced dead at 12:53am on October 12, 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital, in Fort Collins, Colorado. He was 21 years old. Henderson pleaded guilty on April 5, 1999 and agreed to testify against McKinney to avoid the death penalty; he received two consecutive life sentences. The jury in McKinney's trial found him guilty of felony murder. As they began to deliberate on the death penalty, Shepard's parents brokered a deal, resulting in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. Plywood, basswood, acrylic Dimensions:16x16

Saleam Triggs Hattiesburg, Mississippi 1965 Little known civil rights death. The body of Mrs. Saleam Triggs was found mysteriously burned to death. Pine Red Encaustic Blow torched Dimensions: 16x16

June 7, 1998 James Byrd, Jr. James Byrd, Jr. was an African-American who was murdered by three men, of whom at least two were white supremacists, in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Berry, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and John King dragged Byrd for three miles behind a pick-up truck along an asphalt road. On June 7, 1998, Byrd, age 49, accepted a ride from Shawn Berry (age 24), Lawrence Russell Brewer (age 31) and John King (age 23). Berry, who was driving, was acquainted with Byrd from around town. Instead of taking Byrd home, the three men took Byrd to a remote county road out of town, beat him severely, urinated on him and chained him by his ankles to their pickup truck before dragging him for three miles. Brewer later claimed that Byrd's throat had been slashed by Berry before he was dragged. However, forensic evidence suggests that Byrd had been attempting to keep his head up while being dragged, and an autopsy suggested that Byrd was alive during much of the dragging. Byrd died after his right arm and head were severed after his body hit a culvert. The murderers drove on for another mile before dumping his torso in front of an African-American cemetery in Jasper. Byrd's brain and skull were found intact, further suggesting he maintained consciousness while being dragged. Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed by lethal injection for this crime by the state of Texas on September 21, 2011. King remains on Texas' death row while appeals are pending, while Berry was sentenced to life imprisonment. Byrd's lynching-by-dragging gave impetus to passage of a Texas hate crimes law. It later led to the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act, which passed on October 22, 2009, and which President Barack Obama signed into law on October 28, 2009. Spruce, purfling, acrylic Dimensions:16x48x4

Viola Fauver Gregg Liuzzo (April 11, 1925 – March 25, 1965) was a Unitarian Universalist civil rights activist from Michigan. In March 1965 Liuzzo, then a housewife and mother of 5 with a history of local activism, heeded the call of Martin Luther King Jr and traveled from Detroit, Michigan to Selma, Alabama in the wake of the Bloody Sunday attempt at marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Liuzzo participated in the successful Selma to Montgomery marches and helped with coordination and logistics. Driving back from a trip shuttling fellow activists to the Montgomery airport, she was shot in the head by members of the Ku Klux Klan. She was 39 years old. Stacked Plexi Glass and Acrylic. Blow Torched Dimensions:16x16

Jesse Washington, a teenage African-American farmhand, was lynched in Waco, Texas, on May 15, 1916, in what became a well-known example of racially motivated lynching. Washington was accused of raping and murdering Lucy Fryer, the wife of his white employer in rural Robinson, Texas. There were no eyewitnesses to the crime, but during his interrogation by the McLennan County sheriff he signed a confession and described the location of the murder weapon. Washington was tried for murder in Waco, in a courtroom filled with furious locals. He entered a guilty plea and was quickly sentenced to death. After his sentence was pronounced, he was dragged out of the court by observers and lynched in front of Waco's city hall. Over 10,000 spectators, including city officials and police, gathered to watch the attack. There was a celebratory atmosphere at the event, and many children attended during their lunch hour. Members of the mob castrated Washington, cut off his fingers, and hung him over a bonfire. He was repeatedly lowered and raised over the fire for about two hours. After the fire was extinguished, his charred torso was dragged through the town and parts of his body were sold as souvenirs. A professional photographer took pictures as the event unfolded, providing rare imagery of a lynching in progress. The pictures were printed and sold as postcards in Waco. Layered Plywood Encaustic Blow torched Dimensions:16x16

There are three pieces in this work. Displayed in a a horizontal grouping. Mississippi Civil Rights Workers' Murders Earl Chaney Andrew Goodman Michael "Mickey" Schwerner Three American civil rights' workers, James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael "Mickey" Schwerner, were shot at close range on the night of June 21–22, 1964 by members of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office and the Philadelphia Police Department located in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The three had been working on the "Freedom Summer" campaign, attempting to register African Americans to vote. Their murders sparked national outrage and a massive federal investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation referred to this investigation as Mississippi Burning (MIBURN), and eventually found the bodies 44 days later in an earthen dam near the murder site. After the state government refused to prosecute, the federal government initially charged 18 individuals but was able to secure convictions for only seven of them, who received relatively minor sentences for their actions. However, outrage over their deaths assisted in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Pine Dimensions:16x16

Whistle Boxes (August 28, 1955) (Wolf Whistles every 67 minutes) Emmett Louis Till Emmett Louis Till was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois, visiting his relatives in Money, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region, when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married proprietor of a small grocery store there. Several nights later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J. W. Milam arrived at Till's great-uncle's house where they took Till, transported him to a barn, beat him and gouged out one of his eyes, before shooting him through the head and disposing of his body in the Tallahatchie River, weighting it with a 70-pound (32 kg) cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire. His body was discovered and retrieved from the river three days later. On September 23, 1955 the jury acquitted both defendants after a 67-minute deliberation; one juror said, "If we hadn't stopped to drink pop, it wouldn't have taken that long." Maple and purfling Dimensions: 16x20

Work in Progress. Padouk wood. This wood changes color when exposed to light. Dimensions: Multiple sizes around 16x8

Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an African-American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi. After returning from overseas military service in World War II and completing his secondary education, he became active in the civil rights movement. He became a field secretary for the NAACP. Evers was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens' Council. As a veteran, Evers was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His murder and the resulting trials inspired civil rights protests, as well as numerous works of art, music, and film. In the early morning of June 12, 1963, just hours after President John F. Kennedy's speech on national television in support of civil rights, Evers pulled into his driveway after returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers. Emerging from his car and carrying NAACP T-shirts that read "Jim Crow Must Go", Evers was struck in the back with a bullet fired from an Enfield 1917 rifle; the bullet ripped through his heart. He staggered 9 meters (30 feet) before collapsing. He was taken to the local hospital in Jackson where he was initially refused entry because of his color, until it was explained who he was; he died in the hospital 50 minutes later. Pine Dimensions:16x38

In the early morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Herman Frank Cash, and Robert Chambliss, members of United Klans of America (a Ku Klux Klan group) planted a box of dynamite with a time delay under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, near the basement. At about 10:22am, twenty-six children were walking into the basement assembly room to prepare for the sermon entitled “The Love That Forgives,” when the bomb exploded. Four girls, Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14), were killed in the attack, and 22 additional people were injured, one of whom was Addie Mae Collins' younger sister, Sarah. A witness identified Robert Chambliss, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as the man who placed the bomb under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. He was arrested but only charged with possessing a box of 122 sticks of dynamite without a permit. On October 8, 1963, Chambliss received a hundred-dollar fine and a six-month jail sentence for having the dynamite. At the time, no federal charges were filed on Chambliss. The case was unsolved until William Baxley was elected Attorney General of Alabama. He requested the original FBI files on the case and discovered that the organization had accumulated a great deal of evidence against Chambliss that had not been used in the original trial. In November 1977, the seemingly forgotten case of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing was brought to court, where Chambliss, now aged 73, was tried once again and was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Chambliss died in an Alabama prison on October 29, 1985. On May 18, 2000, the FBI announced that the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan splinter group, the Cahaba Boys. It was claimed that four men, Robert Chambliss, Herman Cash, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry had been responsible for the crime. Cash was dead but Blanton and Cherry were arrested, and both tried and convicted. Thomas E. Blanton, Jr. was tried in 2001 and found guilty at age 62 of four counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Herman Cash died in 1994 without having been charged. Bobby Frank Cherry, also a former Klansman, was indicted in 2001 along with Blanton. Judge James Garrett of Jefferson County Circuit Court ruled "that Mr. Cherry's trial would be delayed indefinitely because a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation concluded that he was mentally incompetent.” He was later convicted in 2002, sentenced to life in prison, and died in 2004. Spruce, Purfling, Acrylic. Dimensions:16x48x2

This score is a graphic musical depiction that calls to mind the trees in the Southern part of the U.S. that were once used in lynchings. I grew up in South Carolina, where many of these trees still stand. A play on Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, and four graphic musical scores. The viewer is given an MP3 player and listens to corresponding compositions and arrangements. Each score measure 42 inches x 60 inches. A video of the full work is located here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hLG0xrhSoc Digital Still

Lynching of Leo Frank Currently working on installation about the Georgia lynching of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank in 1915 who was accused of rape and murder. Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884 – August 17, 1915) was a Jewish-American factory superintendent whose murder conviction and extrajudicial hanging in 1915 by a lynch mob planned and led by prominent citizens in Marietta, Georgia, drew attention to questions of antisemitism in the United States. Frank was posthumously pardoned in 1986 which the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles stated was "in an effort to heal old wounds," without officially absolving him of the crime. An engineer and superintendent of the National Pencil Company in Atlanta, Frank was convicted on August 25, 1913, of the murder of one of his factory workers, 13-year-old Mary Phagan. She had been strangled on April 26 and was found dead in the factory cellar the next morning. Frank was the last person known to have seen her alive, and there were allegations that he had flirted with her before. His trial became the focus of powerful class, regional, and political interests. Raised in New York, he was cast as a representative of Yankee capitalism, a rich northern Jew in contrast to the poverty experienced by Phagan and many Southerners of the time. One year after the trial, former U.S. Representative Thomas E. Watson used sensational coverage of the appeal process in his own publications, calling Frank a member of the Jewish aristocracy who had pursued "Our Little Girl" to a hideous death. During the trial, Frank and his lawyers resorted to stereotypes, accusing another suspect — Jim Conley, a black factory worker who testified against Frank — of being especially disposed to lying and murdering because of his race. There was jubilation in the streets when Frank was convicted and sentenced to death. By April 1915, his appeals had failed. Governor John M. Slaton, stating that guilt had not been proven with absolute certainty, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, to great local outrage. A crowd of 1,200 marched on Slaton's home in protest. Two months later, Frank was kidnapped from prison by a group of 25 armed men who called themselves "Knights of Mary Phagan". Frank was driven 170 miles to Frey's Gin, near Phagan's home in Marietta, and lynched. A crowd gathered after the hanging; one man repeatedly stomped on Frank's face, while others took photographs, pieces of his nightshirt, and bits of the rope to sell as souvenirs.

Lynching of Laura and L.D. Nelson Laura and L.D. Nelson (born 1878 and 1897) were an African-American mother and son who were lynched on May 25, 1911, near Okemah, the county seat of Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. Laura, her husband Austin, their teenage son L.D., and possibly their child had been taken into custody after George Loney, Okemah's deputy sheriff, and three others arrived at the Nelsons' home on May 2, 1911, to investigate the theft of a cow. The son shot Loney, who was hit in the leg and bled to death; Laura was reportedly the first to grab the gun and was charged with murder, along with her son. Her husband pleaded guilty to larceny, and was sent to the relative safety of the state prison in McAlester. The son L.D. Nelson was held in the county jail in Okemah and the mother Laura in a cell in the nearby courthouse to await trial. At around midnight on May 24, Laura and L.D. Nelson were both kidnapped from their cells by a group of between a dozen and 40 men; the group included Charley Guthrie (1879–1956), the father of folk singer Woody Guthrie (1912–1967), according to a statement given in 1977 by the former's brother. The Crisis, the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said in July 1911 that Laura was raped, then she and L.D. were hanged from a bridge over the North Canadian River. According to some sources, Laura had a baby with her at the time, who one witness said survived the attack. Sightseers gathered on the bridge the following morning and photographs of the hanging bodies were sold as postcards; the one of Laura is the only known surviving photograph of a female lynching victim. No one was ever charged with the murders; the district judge convened a grand jury, but the killers were never identified. Although Woody Guthrie was not born until 14 months after the lynching, the photographs and his father's reported involvement had a lasting effect on him, and he wrote several songs about the killings. The Nelsons were among at least 4,743 people lynched in the United States between 1888 and 1968, 3,446 (72.7 percent) of them black, 73 percent of them in the South, around 150 of them women. Walnut and purfling Dimensions: 16x22

Lynching of Laura and L.D. Nelson Laura and L.D. Nelson (born 1878 and 1897) were an African-American mother and son who were lynched on May 25, 1911, near Okemah, the county seat of Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. Laura, her husband Austin, their teenage son L.D., and possibly their child had been taken into custody after George Loney, Okemah's deputy sheriff, and three others arrived at the Nelsons' home on May 2, 1911, to investigate the theft of a cow. The son shot Loney, who was hit in the leg and bled to death; Laura was reportedly the first to grab the gun and was charged with murder, along with her son. Her husband pleaded guilty to larceny, and was sent to the relative safety of the state prison in McAlester. The son L.D. Nelson was held in the county jail in Okemah and the mother Laura in a cell in the nearby courthouse to await trial. At around midnight on May 24, Laura and L.D. Nelson were both kidnapped from their cells by a group of between a dozen and 40 men; the group included Charley Guthrie (1879–1956), the father of folk singer Woody Guthrie (1912–1967), according to a statement given in 1977 by the former's brother. The Crisis, the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said in July 1911 that Laura was raped, then she and L.D. were hanged from a bridge over the North Canadian River. According to some sources, Laura had a baby with her at the time, who one witness said survived the attack. Sightseers gathered on the bridge the following morning and photographs of the hanging bodies were sold as postcards; the one of Laura is the only known surviving photograph of a female lynching victim. No one was ever charged with the murders; the district judge convened a grand jury, but the killers were never identified. Although Woody Guthrie was not born until 14 months after the lynching, the photographs and his father's reported involvement had a lasting effect on him, and he wrote several songs about the killings. The Nelsons were among at least 4,743 people lynched in the United States between 1888 and 1968, 3,446 (72.7 percent) of them black, 73 percent of them in the South, around 150 of them women.

WIND from the installation Sounds Like..., I use music notation to represent a lynching. Early on I thought the actual images of lynchings would be too horrific to use in my art, so I opted for a more subtle approach. Two years later I started working with actual lynching postcards. Sounds Like… is a sound installation without sound. The four pairings of large images and video are based on the classic elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each pairing also represents a significant event in US history relating to Americans of African descent, and their experiences. From broken promises associated with 40 acres and a mule, to the horrors of lynching, and the murder of Emmett Till, as well as honoring the spirit of those who fought for their rights. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9LtOC0lFZw Digital still

This video shows the separation of layers. I'm currently animating this video to be part of a performance piece funded by MAP Fund. I'm animating 10-15 postcards and will perform new original composition in a staged production entitled Stories from the Trees.

Lynching in Louisiana colorized The lynching of W. C. or R. C. Williams, his body hanging from an oak tree, lower body covered with kitchen apron, blood streaming down legs suggests castration, onlookers include white men and young children. ________ News Report: Lynch Law - Ruston, LA The shot riddled body of negro W. C. Williams hangs from the towering oak tree less than 150 yards from where the murder and assault for which he was killed were committed. A mob of 300 persons administered lynch law after Williams admitted that he had clubbed mill worker Robert N. Blair to death and criminally assaulted his girl companion. The mob took Williams from the posse which had captured him after a three day hunt, strung him up to the tree, then riddled his body with bullets.

Lynching in Louisiana pre-colorized, Work in Progress The lynching of W. C. or R. C. Williams, his body hanging from an oak tree, lower body covered with kitchen apron, blood streaming down legs suggests castration, onlookers include white men and young children. ______ News Report: Lynch Law - Ruston, LA The shot riddled body of negro W. C. Williams hangs from the towering oak tree less than 150 yards from where the murder and assault for which he was killed were committed. A mob of 300 persons administered lynch law after Williams admitted that he had clubbed mill worker Robert N. Blair to death and criminally assaulted his girl companion. The mob took Williams from the posse which had captured him after a three day hunt, strung him up to the tree, then riddled his body with bullets.

Lynching postcard circa 1915. Pre-animation and still from animation.

Stories from the Trees reimagines vintage lynching postcards with animation, live restaging of attendants, new composition, and live performance. Based on one survey, 4,742 African Americans were murdered by lynching between 1882 and 1968. Others were lynched as well, but not nearly in the same numbers- including people of Caucasian, Chinese, Latino, and Jewish descent. This project brings to life the different scenarios of lynchings, places where communities gathered with women and children proudly watching these atrocities. The images draw from postcards that were made from photographs of lynchings as common practice. Funded by 2014 MAP Fund

This is my audio/video interpretation of a flight on board the Experimental Aircraft Association's B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" -- Filmed in 2010 at and above The Museum of Flight and the surrounding Puget Sound.

Interview about Museum of Flight public art commission.

Why do we assume all the elephants like peanuts. I was invited to speak at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA for TEDx.

Site Specific performance. I gave 50 cello concerts over a period of a year and a half as part of a grant from 4Culture in King County in WA State. They commissioned me to create a video shot in multiple locations.

Presentation of funded project.

Interview about music, visual art, teaching and mentoring.

Jorge Antonio Renaud and Paul Rucker at the Blue Mountain Center. This was an impromtu performance where the two of us decided to perform together without any rehearsal. In 2009 I attended a Prison Issues Residency at Blue Mountain Center in New York. Over a period of two and a half weeks, I met with 17 other artists, and activists working on prison related issues. After 6 years, we still keep in contact with each other.

I was invited to speak at TEDx Berkeley, the largest TEDx in the country with an audience of 2000.

An unknown audience member shot this video and posted it on YouTube. I'm performing at Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco.

As an artist, I’ve embraced non-traditional ways of doing. As a self-taught cellist, I’ve developed my own style of playing that developed from years of experimentation. I studied double bass in elementary school, and I loved playing on different parts of the bass to create unusual sounds. This fascination extended into adulthood, and at the age of 30 I started to play cello. The music I create on cello involves extended technique, prepared cello and electronics.

I've performed and lectured in prisons across the country. Due to restrictions in those facilities, cameras or recording devices are not allowed. This shot is from Alcatraz during a residency with the We Players Theater Ensemble. Performances, lectures, visual art, and theater took place throughout the facility, and on the grounds.

I’ve presented performances and visual art exhibitions across the country and have collaborated with educational institutions to address the issue of mass incarceration. Presentations have taken place in schools, active prisons and also inactive prisons such as Alcatraz.

Original Slave Density Map from 1860. This data is based on the 8th Census of the United States.

I'm currently animating this slave density map that shows the slave population in 1860. The highlighted red areas show slave density of areas with 50% or more. Along the Mississippi River, slave density was over 90% in many counties. The state of South Carolina and Mississippi had more slaves in the state than free. This data is based on the 8th Census of the United States that took place in 1860.

Constitution Day: Bars and Stripes Forever: Inequalities and Incarceration in America Maryland Institute College of Art Panel discussion featuring: Baltimore-based author, journalist, and television writer/producer David Simon, Moderated by WYPR’s The Signal producer Aaron Henkin, social innovator Susan Burton, who has dedicated her life to helping formerly incarcerated women re-enter society, and artist and activist Ashley Hunt, who uses video, photography, mapping, and writing to engage social movements and investigate the prison system. PROLIFERATION was featured at the beginning of the panel discussion.

This is a screen shot from PROLIFERATION. Near the end of the video. Timeline: Green Dots: 1778-1900 Yellow Dots: 1901-1940 Orange Dots: 1941-1980 Red Dots: 1981-2005

This is a screen shot from PROLIFERATION. Green Dots: 1778-1900 Yellow Dots: 1901-1940

This is a screen shot from the first few minutes of PROLIFERATION. The green dots are prisons built before 1900.

This research was done by Rose Heyer of Prison Policy Initiative. This information was used to create the data visualization piece PROLIFERATION. When creating art work you hope will be influential to change, or a catalyst for conversation, it's important to use accurate information.

Video animation of the growth of the US prison system set to music. Art can tell stories. For years I would talk about injustice by reciting numbers and statistics. When you say, “We have over 2.3 million people in prison,” it’s a large number to comprehend. Doing research at a prison issues-themed residency at the Blue Mountain Center in New York, I found some maps that I felt could help tell the story. This project shows the proliferation of the US prison system if seen from a celestial point of view. Using different colors to indicate different eras, the viewer can clearly see the astonishing growth of this system over time. Timeline: Green Dots: 1778-1900 Yellow Dots: 1901-1940 Orange Dots: 1941-1980 Red Dots: 1981-2005