The Mobile Abolition Library at SITE SANTA FE
Saturday, September 7, 2024
10am-1pm
SITE SANTA FE
Celebrate New Public Artwork by Cassils
Join us at SITE SANTA FE for the public launch of the Etched in Light Billboard Project, by artist Cassils. In anticipation of Cassils’ upcoming exhibition, Movements, SITE SANTA FE is hosting a celebratory morning honoring the unveiling of the new Billboard Project.
During the Billboard launch, we will screen a short video about the Etched in Light project, followed by an informal Q&A with Curator Brandee Caoba and Director of Creativity Matthew Contos about the upcoming exhibition and public programs.
The Billboard launch celebration will be accompanied by The Mobile Abolition Library, a visual arts and literacy initiative grounded in an abolitionist framework that takes the form of a library on wheels. The library houses a collection of over 300 books, zines, a seed library, and a portrait archive. The materials in the collection cover topics related to abolition, social justice, and community care. The library emphasizes grassroots and alternative methods to reimagine the possibility of transforming criminal justice to envision and create a more equitable and sustainable future.
We will also be joined by Noise for Now, a national initiative that enables artists and entertainers to connect with and financially support grassroots organizations that work in the field of reproductive justice, including abortion access. Noise for Now has worked with over 450 artists and entertainers to raise $1.37 million for 50 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations across the U.S.
Etched in Light Billboard Project is part of Movements, Cassils’ solo exhibition, on view from November 15, 2024, through February 3, 2025.
Etched In Light channels the affective energies of lie-ins, die-ins, and the historic NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. These billboards embody the presence of trans* and non-binary bodies, capturing moments of intimacy, resilience, and tender connection. The billboards represent details from Cassils’s large-scale cyanotypes, which were created with the National Center for Transgender Equality and over 100 trans* artists at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, 2024. Performers were invited to lie upon a 15 x 60-foot canvas coated in a photographic solution for 25 minutes, allowing the sun to register their exposure and water to develop a massive camera-free photographic print that emerged in real-time. The collective body compositions interpret the themes of self-actualization and empowerment against an antagonistic political backdrop where trans* people face severe discrimination, stigma, and systemic inequality. This work continues Cassils’s engagement with questions of trans* visibility: exploring abstraction as a tactic that refuses the surveilling and voyeuristic gaze leveled at trans* bodies. Simultaneously, Etched In Light creates a powerful testament to LBGTQIA+’s history, endurance, presence, and active resistance.
The Mobile Abolition Library is a visual arts and literacy initiative grounded in an abolitionist framework. The mobile collection and its programming is centered in challenging and reimagining the systems of surveillance, policing, punishment, and community care. The intention is to be a community-driven project that raises awareness, inspires critical thinking, and fosters discussions about incarceration’s impact on communities. The project is a collaboration between Bernadine Hernandez and Martìn Wannam of the Fronteristxs collective and sheri crider of the Sanitary Tortilla Factory. Additional contributing artists include Delilah Montoya, John-Mark Collins, and Kaitlin Bryson.
Noise for Now is a national initiative that enables artists and entertainers to connect with and financially support grassroots organizations that work in the field of Reproductive Justice, including abortion access. Reproductive health care services, including access to legal abortion, are under attack. By organizing benefit events and campaigns, NOISE FOR NOW provides opportunities for artists and entertainers to use their talent to raise money and send a clear message that Reproductive Rights are human rights. Since the first NOISE FOR NOW benefit concert at the Santa Fe Opera in 2017, NOISE FOR NOW has worked with over 450 artists and entertainers to raise $1.37 million for 50 Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice organizations across the U.S.
SITE SANTA FE’s Billboard Project is a series of artist-led billboards and activations introducing art and dialogue into public space.
This program is supported in part by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and the National Endowment for the Arts.
