Subliminal Sketches of a S.H.U.
A series of multimedia drawings transforming Anger, Despair and Love into a Subliminal Vision of Hope

By The Counter Narrative Society
(Mabel Negrete with Alli Spector and the support of Victoria Restler and Marguerite Davenport)

When: Sat. 08.02.2008
Time: 9-10pm
Location: corner of 23rd Street and Treat Ave. San Francisco CA
To find M.A.P.P. visit: Red Poppy Art House - 2698 Folsom Street (@ 23rd Street)

On Saturday August 2nd, the Mission Arts & Performance Project (M.A.P.P.) will celebrate Frida Kahlo’s life and work as a visionary feminist artist, Subliminal Sketches of a SHU honors Kahlo’s legacy and forwards her tradition of using the body and self-portraiture to reveal deep personal feelings and address contemporary social issues.

Subliminal Sketches of a SHU is a live-art/studio that investigates the history and dysfunction of the segregation housing units (SHU). Using the body, the sensible housing unit (a fabric replica of a SHU), surveillance camera, digital images, letters and other contraptions, artists, Mabel Negrete and Alli Spector will create a public visual dialogue on this practice of solitary confinement. From 9pm-10pm, Negrete and Spector will project photographs, images and objects onto building walls and interact with projections through live improvisational performance. Artists invite public participation and improvisation including those with someone in prison. Please join us and bring anything that you would like to incorporate into this Subliminal Sketch. Or, you can e-mail your images or thoughts to mabel by no later than Saturday by noon.

What is a SHU?
A segregated housing unit (SHU) is a type of solitary confinement employed in America’s prison system and is also referred to by other names such as “supermax,” “special management unit,” "or the “adjustment center.” This type of cells were first built in 1829 by the Eastern State Penitentiary but since the 70's they are widely used all over the USA to punish humans (youth and adults inmates) often for months, years and decades.

Conditions
-6’x10’ cells with no windows
-Extremely limited contact with humans; contact with staff occurs largely through a steel slot in the door
-prisoners describe either total silence or constant noise including yelling and screaming 24 hours a day
-routine strip searches and cavity searches
-visits, counseling, reading material, and educational services either prohibited or severely restricted
-“cell extraction” a procedure where prisoners are confronted with 4-6 riot clad guards and forcibly removed from the cell or hog-tied.

Long term isolation is becoming increasingly common. The construction and use of solitary confinement units has outpaced the growth of prison populations 40% to 28%. Last year, USA Today reported that 70,000 people were housed in long-term isolation nationwide.

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