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Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
Spectacles of Religiosity

July 11-19, 2003, New York University

photo taken by Katherine Kleine

WELCOME

BIO

karen g. williams is an educator, community activist and experimental performance artist. The body of her work is a mapping of the social and political intersections of the Prison Industrial Complex. Her most recent work a blueprint of the bluegoose, is a multi media performance installation that explores the pain of incarceration. Other work include, 43 cycles, an examination of women on death row and this won't end capitalism, a critical look at prison labor and the privatization of prisons. She holds a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. karen is currently a master candidate in performance studies at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.

Abstract: Liberating Ourselves From the Death Penalty: The Living Theatre's Promise and Beyond

What is the role of art in the restoration of humanity? What does it mean to promise not to kill someone in a theatrical performance? In the performance, Not in My Name, The Living Theatre made a promise to the audience that they would never to kill them. This gesture is an attempt to separate themselves from the cycle of violence while illuminating capital punishment. However, if we are to truly restore justice and humanity, we have to widen our rubric of what we consider the death penalty to a place in which we are fighting against unjust death.

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