HIDING
Hiding was a multimedia installation commissioned by Burlington City Arts in 2017 in conjunction with the Hall Art Foundation as part of the exhibition, Ready. Fire! Aim. Growing up Jewish and in the shadow of the Holocaust, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the experience of hiding to avoid persecution, both those who were forced into hiding and those who were brave enough to risk hiding them. Following the 2016 presidential election, this act once again became a possibility and then a reality, as immigration raids and religious persecution swept across the country.
Hiding consisted of five pieces: a concealed hiding room; a photograph and schematic drawings of a house in Brattleboro, Vermont, that had been part of the underground railroad; a typed list of house rules excerpted from The Diary of Anne Frank; a video projection of a flashing red traffic light against the silhouette of a tree; and a library of survivalist literature sourced from various online reading lists.
The central piece of the exhibition consisted of a hidden room constructed on the far side of the gallery, which could be entered by pushing a panel on the wall. Visitors to the exhibition were handed a risograph map of the space upon entering the gallery to lead them to the room’s entrance. The chamber, shaped like a narrow corridor, contained shelves stocked with food and water, a desk with cooking supplies, a radio, a clock, a notepad, a child’s bed, and an adult-sized sleeping bag on the floor, both implying that someone had been there and that someone could use it if the need arose.
In 1987 a secret chamber was discovered in a house in Brattleboro, Vermont, dating back to the Underground Railroad. Upon its discovery, a group of local historians led by Walt Harrington descended into the chamber and documented its dimensions and contents. The piece consists of my photograph of the house as seen from the street and ten of Harrington's drawings reproduced with permission from the Brattleboro Historical Society
The installation also included a typed excerpt from Anne Frank's diary. Her entry from November 17, 1942, consists of a tongue-in-cheek list of rules and regulations for the secret annex written on the occasion of the arrival of a new resident, Mr. Dussel.
Upon entering the gallery, viewers encountered a three- and-a-half minute looped video projected on the wall concealing the hiding room. The video depicts a tree at night, illuminated by a flashing red traffic light. The darkness and the red flashes are meant to evoke a sense of alarm and danger, as well as reference a police action.
This collection of 70 books was derived from the recommended reading lists found on several survivalist websites. Ironically, many of these sites about living off the grid link to reading lists on amazon.com as a way of generating income. Some of the titles in this collection include: "How To Survive Without A Salary," "Starting A New Life In Rural America," "Walden," "The Prepper's Blueprint: The Step by Step Guide To Help You Prepare for Any Disaster," "How to Live on Wheat," "Joy of Cooking," "Tom Brown's Guide To Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants," "The Boy Scout Handbook," "US ARMY: Emergency War Surgery," "Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged," "When Technology Fails," and "Prepper Pete Prepares: An Introduction To Prepping For Kids."