Dawn Liddicoatt
Florida 2015, Lynch Pot (2016)
stoneware, jute, childhood artifacts
13 x 12 x 11 in.
NFS
Lynch Pots are a visual representation of police killings by race and state. I created them in response to claims that police killings are not racist. Lynch Pots display available facts so people can look and decide for themselves.
Each ceramic pot is hand built and represents one state for one year. I measure the circumference and divide the pot vertically according to the racial population of that state for that year. I punch a hole through the pot strategically, according to the race and date of each person recorded as killed by police that year. The holes simulate bullet holes, as most victims are killed by gunshots. A ceramic tag for each person killed includes their name, age, race, gender, date and how killed. Each tag hangs from the appropriate hole tied to a childhood artifact inside the pot, something to represent that each person killed was someone’s child, to represent that innocence and encourage viewers to think about that life lost.
I compute the percentages and create a chart with each pot so viewers can more easily read each name and to shed more light on the clearly evident racial disparity. Police killing is a modern-day lynching, too long accepted and excused. Enough.
© Dawn Liddicoatt