By Anne Carroll | September 23, 2024
Taken at the University Art Museum, this is a photograph of the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, originally taken by Danny Goodwin.
Photo Credit: Anne Carroll / The ASP
From Aug. 12 to Dec. 9, the University Art Museum will be featuring two exhibitions. The First and Second Main Floor Galleries contain Job Security: Voices and Views from the American Security Industry which is a research project from University at Albany professors Danny Goodwin and Edward Schwarzschild.
In this exhibition, Goodwin and Schwarzschild utilize videos, photographs, and interview transcripts to explore the many nuances of America’s security industry. Meanwhile the Museum’s other exhibit “Dislocation Blues,” a short film by Sky Hopinka, will be playing on repeat in the Nancy Hyatt Liddle Gallery. Hopinka’s 17-minute short film focuses on the 2016-2017 Native American protests at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
On the first floor of the Job Security exhibit there are three pairs of TV screens, six screens total, facing each other. Each screen displays abridged interview transcripts from former top government security officials being read aloud by PhD candidates from the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany.
The pairs of screens are set facing each other to make it seem as if the interviewees are having a conversation; their abridged transcripts tell their differing experiences with the same security topic. When standing between a set of these screens, the viewer hears both interviewees simultaneously making it necessary to get closer to one screen in order to hear their side of the story.
Interviewed security officials include the Chief of US Border Patrol, CIA officers, a Recon Marine, and more. The topics of government intelligence, military casualties, and the southern US border are covered between the three sets of TV interviews.
To make this video portion of the exhibit more accessible to visitors, the museum is able to provide some auditory and physical accommodations for Job Security. Near each set of screens is a QR code which allows museum visitors to view digital transcripts of what the PhD candidates are reading when scanned. Museum workers are also able to supply chairs upon request. Because of the sensitive themes that Job Security explores, the museum has provided signs warning that “the topics in this exhibition address military combat and border migration. Some videos contain audio descriptions of violence, suffering, and death.”
Displayed around the walls of the first floor are photographic portraits Goodwin took of each of Schwarzschild’s interviewees. These portraits expand beyond the video transcripts to also showcase security officials from the private sector, industry critics, and industry targets alongside officials from government agencies. Also on the first floor a set of printed transcripts from Schwarzschild’s interviews is hung up. The names of the interviewers are not included, and much of the transcripts are redacted emphasizing the nature of secrecy surrounding the security industry.
Taken at the University Art Museum, this is a photo of Travis Brodbeck reading the abridged interview transcript of Col. James Vizzard, originally recorded by Danny Goodwin and Edward Schwarzschild.
Photo Credit: Anne Carroll / The ASP
On the second floor are more photographs from Goodwin of notable sites such as the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany, NY. He has also constructed and photographed dioramas of sites with glue, cardboard, and images from Google Earth. This exhibition is based on Goodwin and Schwarzschild’s book Job/Security: A Composite Portrait of the Expanding American Security Industry which can be perused by visitors on the second floor as well.
The second floor of the museum also holds the Nancy Hyatt Liddle Gallery which is currently showing Sky Hopinka’s short film “Dislocation Blues” projected onto a wall. Opposite the wall a row of benches is provided for sitting, however closed captioning or a QR code to scan for a transcription is not provided.
“Dislocation Blues” delves into the 2016-2017 protests at Standing Rock during which Native American groups fought against the Dakota Access Pipeline construction efforts. The Dakota Access Pipeline carries oil through the Dakotas, Iowa, Illinois, parts of the Mississippi River, and parts of the Missouri River. However the Pipeline violates Native American territory treaties, destroys culturally significant lands, and could potentially contaminate water sources.
Using Standing Rock as his background and two Standing Rock protestors as voiceover, Hopinka is able to look at themes of Indigenous resistance, community, political dislocation, and more. The protestors narrating “Dislocation Blues” are Cleo Keahna and Terry Running Wild. Hopinka offers two different views of Standing Rock to experience as Keahna is a young Native trans person and Running Wild is a father protesting in the interest of his daughter and the younger generation.
Cleo Keahna details his story through a Skype interview, looking back at Standing Rock in retrospect. Specifically, he highlights his experience in the Two-Spirit Camp which is a traditional Native non-binary group. Terry Running Wild gives his commentary at Standing Rock during the time of the protests. He reveals to the camera alleged government informants within the camp. This use of informants is a spy tactic that often has been employed against Native political movements. Paired with Keahna and Running Wild’s narration, Hopinka shows a myriad of provoking imagery depicting Standing Rock, its protestors and the camp.
Job Security and “Dislocation Blues” can be seen at the University Art Museum which has free admission for everyone. The museum’s hours of operation are from Monday to Friday between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Taken at the University Art Museum, this is a photograph of “Dislocation Blues,” originally taken by Sky Hopinka.
Photo Credit: Anne Carroll / The ASP
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