A public art installation attempts at a social underclass
A make-shift dwelling at 44 Norfolk street, Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago raises the question of the demographic and accuracy of a crime. How it is portrayed questions the very illusion, fiction and reality of the problem.. The artists involved with the project are commented for their efforts.
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The artists received funding from the Prince Claus Foundation in the Netherlands and were able to do the project with help from Performance Artist Dave Williams who provided the lot and Sean Leonard who provided the labour to build the structure. There are some subtle and not so subtle ironies of this project as the area the artists chose is perceived to be a minor crime spot, and the cost of the project was not small to produce a minor dwelling space. It begs the question, let us look at that very real problem of a decent place to live. – Adele
The government say that it is being addressed, and there are many short films on the government station to prove it. Yet for many, violent crime is about not having basic things like water, lights and a place to call your own. The project also asks the question, is a crime scene an artistic statement and in so being, akin to drama and not actually close to reality? Is the artist close to the concept or glamorizing it by sanitizing it in a way, because the whole thing is posed? These are some of the issues that such an installation raises no matter where the artists are from. Is the artists actually on top of the topic or part of what is wrong with the question? Perhaps it is in the very asking that we begin to get somewhere, where work like this is concerned.- Adele
