quietspruce discusses THE STRUCTURE THAT WOUNDS EVERYBODY MUST BE DESTROYED in a written interview with UAS Interns: Emma Hassel and Genevieve Wagner. 

Can you start off by giving us a brief overview of your upcoming show, THE STRUCTURE THAT WOUNDS EVERYBODY MUST BE DESTROYED?

tstwembd is a reflection of my last three years of living in Northern Virginia and teaching in DC. The show examines the violence of US imperialism and interventionism.

The most recent work was done in partnership with the Peace Resource Center at Wilmington College. 

The Peace Resource Center (PRC) at Wilmington College creates a vital connection between the campus community and efforts toward non-violence, social justice, and global peace.

Please consider making a gift to the PRC here.

Your work explores political and social issues using video and imagery. What histories or issues are you exploring through this exhibition?

These works focus on the government officials and collaborators responsible for calculated and incomprehensible cruelty, and the vague, amorphous language of justification.

Along with the installation, your show includes several online components. How does this format play into the themes of the exhibition?

I have not often shown work in a gallery setting. I make an effort to have everything freely available online. With the intentions of the work, the relative accessibility provided by the internet feels like the most appropriate place for me to participate – at least, creatively speaking.

Part of the exhibition includes an online program of short videos that will premiere on Thursday, July 22, at 8pm on YouTube. 

You have mentioned previously about your ideas of being imaged and archived. Can you explain this idea more and what it has to do with your work as an artist?

There is a power imbalance between a witness and the observed. We actively install, and perform for, the apparatuses responsible for quantifying and archiving our bodies. These intimate and amplified actions share an ambient nervousness, and a manic indulgence, in a time of rampant mental distress. Surveillance is a co-production between corporations and government - for me, this vulnerability is cause for anxiety.

In your artist statement there is an interesting quote that says, “We must continue to exhibit the intensity of our emotions.” Can you expand on this idea and the importance of exhibiting our emotions?

I look at this with optimism. The structure that wounds everybody must be destroyed. Any alternative path will not be taken passively or alone.