Cells of Release (1995)
Cells of Release was a poetry installation created in collaboration with Amnesty International for Prison Sentences, written onsite at the abandoned panopticon Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, from April 2 to May 17, 1995.
Over six weeks, the author wrote on a continuous paper that wove in an out of all the cells of one block, installing and writing one cell onsite each day. Each cell is dedicated to a different prisoner of conscience somewhere in the world, and with the old prison furniture the cell is made into a place where the visitor found a text and photograph on that case, and facilities to write in petition on their behalf.
The installation was published in book form with accompanying photos and descriptive material by Roof Books in 1997. An essay on the installation by Caroline Bergvall for Jacket2 can be read here.
