PLANT THE PIECE/SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES

Working with fellow artist Christopher Humes, we created a nine-month long art project about murder in Richmond, Virginia. The city’s violent death rate is among the highest in the country and yet, very little is being done in the community to address it. Using the traditional art of seed ball making (which embeds plant seeds in dirt/clay balls for ease of dissemination) replica guns were created, one for each person murdered in the city (most by gunshots). The guns are an inversion of the destructive use of firearms, creating life rather than taking it away. The exhibition consisted of monthly space-specific installations, that moved from location to location around the city, while increasing in size as the number of deaths grew. The project was shown in formal art settings, as well as non-traditional spaces, so that the largest possible audience could interact with the project. The piece culminated in with a community roundtable discussion about how the city could better address the issues that fueled the work. The individual seed guns continue to be displayed around the world.