‘A handgun in every nightstand’: art installation shines light on US gun violence
On Capitol Hill there is no shortage of politicians who wrap themselves in the Stars and Stripes and founding documents when seeking to defend the right to bear arms. But any who walk up Pennsylvania Avenue in the next 10 days will be confronted by an inversion of these patriotic symbols and an urgent plea to tackle gun violence.
Alienable right to life is a public art installation at Freedom Plaza that features a huge American flag bearing the names of 1,039 people killed in mass shootings since the Columbine high school massacre 25 years ago.
“I, sadly, have left one panel blank on the north-east corner of this artwork in case there is yet another mass shooting while this art is on exhibition,”artistSuzanne Brennan Firstenberg said on Friday at a rainy launch event attended by the congressional Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Jamie Raskin and gun safety advocates.
The piece, made of scaffold wrapped with vinyl, is35ft long, 25ft high and 12ft wide and secured by 32,000lb of ballast. Nestled behind the flag is a giant facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, which takes the assertion that all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights, magnifies the word “unalienable” and puts a red cross through “un”, leaving only “alienable”.
Nearby is an interactive circular mural, representing an upside down Stars and Stripes (a sign of imminent danger or distress) for visitors to share personal stories.
“Kids shouldn’t be afraid to go to school!” one says.
The structures are surrounded by trappings of the nation’s capital: historic quotations about Washington inscribed on the upper terrace; a statue of Casimir Pulaski, a general in the Continental army, on horseback; the executive office of the mayor and the council of the District of Columbia; the National Theatre, about to stage Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
In her remarks on Friday, Firstenberg, 64, described her motives for creating alienable right to life,noting that gun violence has become the leading cause of death for American children.
“America has become a dangerous place,” she said. “It used to be a place where we talked about a chicken in every pot and now it’s a handgun in every nightstand.
“This art is meant to broaden the