UNSEEN is a multimedia art installation that examines the mutilation of our environment and, in turn, ourselves. It’s deeply personal for me. My brother, Joe, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma when he was just 41 years old. Myeloma is a blood cancer that eats away at your bones. Joe lives on a block in Niagara Falls that sits at the edge of Love Canal in a neighborhood with house after house of families dealing with life-threatening cancers and diseases. More than 40 years after toxic waste from Love Canal destroyed this neighborhood, people from the area continue to suffer from the chemicals of Niagara's continued industrial legacy.
For the installation, I interviewed 18 residents from many different contaminated areas of Niagara County. I wanted to fill the space at the Burchfield Penney Art Center with a soundscape of their personal stories. Their interwoven voices are the heart of UNSEEN.
A spoken-word symphony, UNSEEN brings the sights and smells they experienced while living on this toxic land into focus as they share the physical and emotional burden of their environment. Each voice describes being affected by toxins in the home. The stories, which span decades to the present day, reveal a haunting similarity in their experiences: the degradation of the relationship with their home and their surrounding environment but also their unwavering resilience.
In the middle of this vast, dimly lit space at the Burchfield, a typical 1920s bungalow is brought into focus by the glow of light. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice the house is made entirely of soil. This house is a home. It’s the place where people live their lives—eating, playing, talking, watching TV and gardening. A home is the one place where everyone should feel safe and in control. But, a home is also an investment and the last place where you would expect to poison your family.
With UNSEEN, I take you behind the beauty of what the world sees when they think of Niagara Falls and share the stories of those who live in the shadow of this region’s interminable industrial history.
“Unseen is a sensory, auditory and emotional masterpiece. It is the most visceral work of art I have seen in my life, and I lived in Paris France for decades. The pairing of the physical representation of the house and the spoken word symphony of the Unseen Voices take you to the epicenter of the environmental tragedy that is affecting the lives of the people in this area each and every day”
