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West Harlem Art Fund, City College And Artist Art Jones Share The History Of Slave Trafficking On Governors Island With The Installation TRAFFIC

Traffic can be seen through June 30th on Governors Island, Nolan Park in Building 10B on the weekends Saturday and Sunday from 12pm - 4 pm.

By: May. 18, 2023
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West Harlem Art Fund, City College And Artist Art Jones Share The History Of Slave Trafficking On Governors Island With The Installation TRAFFIC  Image

In the 21st century, slavery continues to be the scourge it has been for the past 4,000 years, modern abolitionists say. An estimated 27.6 million are currently victims of trafficking worldwide, and, sadly, many of them are often hidden right in front of us, according to the Office of the US Secretary of State.

The West Harlem Art Fund in partnership with City College's DIAP Program and artist Art Jones looks at the history of slave trafficking in New York with the digital installation Traffic. This coincides with broader examination of modern abolition and its impact globally.

After the abolition of slavery in 1827, New York became a major force in the illegal slave trade, dealing with the American Southern states, Brazil, and Cuba. The city benefited much from this traffic in humans: southern cotton and sugar sailed to Europe from New York Harbor, which is the body of water surrounding Governors Island. Major financial institutions including Aetna, JP Morgan Chase, and New York Life actively did business with slaveholders and slave ship owners, and traders and builders were responsible for outfitting and repairing slave ships.

Traffic will explore this history through objects, images, and sounds. The installation will include a series of small sculptures derived from the sound of the waters of New York Harbor, and reproductions of woodcuts and illustrations from the period. Placing a smartphone near the objects or images will reveal sounds of the harbor and and a short video piece, providing an interactive experience of this hidden history. Traffic can be seen through June 30th on Governors Island, Nolan Park in Building 10B on the weekends Saturday and Sunday from 12pm - 4 pm.

Art Jones works with moving images, photography, sound, and objects. Jones often uses original and found media as raw material to be sampled and re-combined in order to examine implicit cultural meanings or suggest new ones. Jones' films and media art projects have been presented internationally at Chinatown Soup in New York City, Times Art Center Berlin, Roulette Intermedium, and Mana Contemporary Art.

About the City College Digital and Interdisciplinary Art Program [DIAP] Program (https://art.ccny.cuny.edu/main/mfa-diap/)

The [DIAP] program is a 60 credit Fine Art MFA Program in which students engage with aspects related to digital media, movement and time based disciplines, socio cultural aspects. The program's central focus is a utilization and critical engagement of digital media that can lead into areas as diverse as interactive sculpture, photography, performance, movement based arts, video, sound art, non-narrative motion graphics, online privacy, online/offline interventions, printing, spatial mapping, drawing, digital cultures or bio art and is supportive of different models of individual or collaborative art practice.




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