Artwork by Curt Belshe and Lise Prown
Our electoral system is under increasing pressure from special interest groups who try to shape and control who, where and how we vote, as well as who is allowed to vote. Voting district manipulation, voter roll purges, and voter ID laws make the very act of voting increasingly problematic.
Congressional redistricting occurs every 10 years and this process is increasingly partisan, using sophisticated computer models to give one party an advantage for the next 10 year cycle. The Supreme Court will be making a major decision on this topic in the upcoming year particularly as regards a ruling. The case that involves district lines in Wisconsin. This case that could have a major impact on how district lines are drawn up nationwide.
In response to these issues, we have created a signage piece that notes aspects of gerrymandering as it exists today. In elections going forward, it will be important for voters to be sensitive the contexts in which they are participating in our democracy.
Our artwork will consist of 15 signs mounted on 5 ten foot traffic sign posts. These posts will be freestanding on aluminum bases arranged linearly in the gallery space. The signs will show famous gerrymandered districts, diagrams of modern techniques for gerrymandering and quotes on the topic of how votes count and are counted.
History Note:
The word gerrymander (originally written “Gerrymander”) was used for the first time in the Boston Gazette (not to be confused with the Boston Gazette) on 26 March 1812. The word was created in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under the then-governor Elbridge Gerry (pronounced /ˈɡɛri/; 1744–1814). In 1812, Governor Gerry signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts to benefit his Democratic-Republican Party. When mapped, one of the contorted districts to the north of Boston was said to resemble the shape of a salamander.[2] Gerrymander is a portmanteau of the governor’s last name and the word salamander.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering_in_the_United_States
more pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/artswestchester/albums/72157686541807722