Proliferation (Primary Title)
Paul Rucker, American, born 1968 (Artist)
When you say, “we have over 2.3 million people in prison,” it’s too large a number to comprehend. . . . I found some maps that I felt could help tell the story. This project shows the proliferation of the U.S. prison system. . . . The viewer can clearly see the astonishing growth of this system over time.
—Paul Rucker
Formally trained as a musician and composer, Rucker has established himself as a visual artist engaged with social practices that illuminate the legacy of slavery in America and its relationship to the current sociopolitical moment. His work is the product of a rich interactive process, through which he investigates community impacts, human rights issues, historical research, and basic human emotion.
In Proliferation, Rucker visually chronicles the growth of the American prison system over three centuries. Through music and visual composition, he slowly reveals the phenomenal growth of the United States penal system from 1778 through 2008.
Blue Mountain Center in New York.
Elements of this work were also featured in the Rucker exhibiiton, REWIND.
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