Waiting -- a process which can often seem like a lifetime. The fact is, sometimes it is a lifetime. Sometimes waiting culminates in the end of a lifetime
Richard Kamler, California-based art director, has compiled the images, sounds and testimonies from over 20 years of prison documentation. His exhibit, "The Waiting Room," showing since January 2000, brings the complex experiences of death-row visiting quarters to life at the Art Museum of The University of Memphis this month.
At the same time, "The Waiting Room," opens the floor to the public in efforts to attract all views and voices of a heated, contemporary issue, according to Larry Frey, professor and chairman of communications at The U of M.
Frey said discussions of the installation and its topic aren't meant to influence or persuade, but to produce meaningful dialogue regarding the issues.
AMUM's main gallery will house the exhibit. Visitors will enter through a wall of bars, to give them a sense of prison confinement, according to assistant museum director Lisa Francisco.
A pendulum will swing behind bars, suggesting the passage of time, while an underlying heartbeat beats and stops at random intervals.
Nine televisions and VCRs will be stationed to exhibit the images of inmates and testimonies of victims' families and others connected to the executions. Kamler himself will also appear at one point , Francisco said.
She said the walls will become the warnings and rules of conduct of the prison waiting areas scripted into lead scrolls, about 10 or 12 encompassing the entire gallery, one of which lists the execution schedule.
"This interactive installation is particularly appropriate at this time, given the recent national concerns about the death penalty and decisions being made about it," Frey said. "It's also particularly appropriate to debate this issue in the state of Tennessee, given its policy regarding the death penalty."
Francisco said she expects a broad appeal due to the installation's tie to such a current issue with a large audience already mindful of the points raised by the death penalty debate.
Stephen Hartnett, assistant professor of speech and communication at The University of Illinois, has hit Texas and Los Angeles on "The Waiting Room" tour as conductor of the interactive discussion segment.
"Conversations get quite moving," Hartnett said. "It's not infrequent for moms to share stories about their son who was murdered or their son who is scheduled for execution and they say he's innocent. The talks can be sometimes confessional and emotional and we try to steer that in a respectful manner. When it works, it enhances what democracy should be -- community hitting the issues."
Local figures are to open a panel discussion, Hartnett said. Memphis voices include talk radio's Mike Fleming, Dr. L. Lasimba Gray Jr., Memphis coordinator for the Congress of National Black Churches and lawyer/activist Robert Hutton. National director for murder victims' families Renny Cushing will also be on hand.
"The point here is to produce dialogue, and you can't have dialogue if it's only one view and direction," Hartnett said.
Conversations are open to the public and will be held on Saturday, April 28 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Official opening receptions are later that evening, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
"The Waiting Room" will run at AMUM from April 21 to May 19 and will be free and open to the public.
The exhibit is sponsored by The U of M's communication department. "They're committed to conversations on contemporary issues. If nothing else, this exhibit will serve as a continuum of The University to educate people," Frey said.
