ERNEST Core Residency
While in residence at c3:initiative, ERNEST learned about Wapato Correctional Facility, a low-security jail located fifteen minutes from Downtown St. Johns, Portland, that has sat empty since it was built in 2004. Demos: Wapato Correctional Facility probes the many concerns that the vacant jail suggests: breakdowns in democracy, prevailing power structures and others. The project's title takes its meaning from various interpretations of the word "demos". The Greek word "demos" (pronounced "day-moss"), refers to the "village" or "people." In English, "demo", is used as a shorthand for "demonstration", as reference to the "demo mix-tape", or as the vernacular for "demolition". ERNEST thus uses "demos" to refer to its interest in keeping their methods experimental and provisional, while creating opportunities for local participatory engagement.
Demos: Wapato Correctional Facility comprised of a video, publication, limited edition print and a roundtable event. Acting as a conjuror of sorts, the character of Coyote leads the video component of Demos, transforming the specific architecture, history and politics of Wapato Jail into a platform for conversation and collaboration. The project’s publication was created in collaboration with Portland art press, Container Corps, and includes a collection of essays, artworks, research, and primary documents. Its contents are both specific to Wapato Correctional Facility, and related to general issues of incarceration, participatory citizenship, and the role of art in social justice and storytelling. The roundtable component of Demos provided a platform for exploration, open conversation, and a broadened investigation of themes relating to the empty jail facility, both locally and nationally.
PAST PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Demos: Wapato Correctional Facility
September 18–November 22, 2015 | Exhibition on view at 7326 N Chicago Ave. | Fri-Sun 12-5pm
Wapato Round Table | Saturday, September 19, 2015, 11am-1pm | at the St. Johns Community Center - 8427 N Central St, Portland, 97203
The roundtable component of Demos will take place on Saturday, September 19 from 11am–1pm. The schedule includes a panel discussion with Emanuel Price, Melissa Salazar, and Yaelle Amir and a community meal and conversation. The day will provide a platform for exploration, open conversation, and a broadened investigation of themes relating to the empty jail facility, both locally and nationally.
Wapato Roundtable Schedule of Events : 11am-12pm Panel Discussion with Yaelle Amir, Emanuel Price, Melissa Salazar | 12-1pm Community Meal and Conversation
Reading Group: The New Jim Crow | Wednesdays, October 7, 14, 21, 7-8:30pm
This Weekly Reading Group considered the seminal book The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. The discussion was initiated by Yaelle Amir, who curated To Shoot a Kite, an exhibition at the CUE Foundation (NYC), that presented "the severe conditions of inmates and exposes [the] broken [prison] system." Conversation was led and motivated by group participants. Sectioned into three meetings, the group discussed the main issues addressed in the book: the origin of mass incarceration in the U.S.; the racialized structure of the U.S. justice system; the aftermath and legacy of mass incarceration. Each week, the book was used as a jumping off point to draw connections to recent events and social movements, creative and activist responses to the system and more. Participants were encouraged to suggest supplemental reading based on the meetings’ topics, as well as additional facilitators who can speak to the particular issues addresses at the meetings.
Stories in Movement | Saturday, November 7, 2015, 5pm
c3:initiative and Hollywood Theatre presented student films and a reading from Hollywood Theatre's Stories in Movement program with the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center and Open Meadow Alternative Schools. The screening was followed by a Q&A with program leaders Taylor Neitzke and Isaiah Spriggs of the Hollywood Theatre and Laura Lo Forti from A Fourth Act.
No Thank You Democracy, The politics of non-participation | Sunday, November 22, 2015, 4:30pm
This exploratory conversation directed its attention to non-voters who make up the majority of the American population. Ariana Jacob asked what happens to our understanding of the American democratic situation if we shift our focus to those who either cannot or choose not to have a say in it. At c3, Jacob invited those in attendance to become co-thinkers in her research and join in facilitated discussion exploring her questions and premises about American democracy. Non-voters and voters alike were invited to talk about the questions that our non-participating population brings up for all of us.