Allison
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JSTOR Daily: Why Do Police Use Tear Gas When It Was Banned in War?
As the US has experienced a wave of police brutality in response to the protests, I explored why they are allowed to use tear gas when it is banned in war. From the story on JSTOR Daily: As a police tool, the current deployment of tear gas reinforces the effect that made gases so powerful…
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Wellcome Collection: Graveyards as Green Getaways
For Wellcome Collection, I interviewed three cemeteries that kept their gates open during the pandemic when so many spaces have closed to the public: Notably, many of the cemeteries that stayed open were founded in the 19th century as respites from urban life, and their capacity to accommodate people safely comes in part from their…
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Brooklyn Brainery: Cemetery Symbols
On May 28, I led an online cemetery symbols class for the Brooklyn Brainery. Thanks to the over 100 (!) people who attended (and one very attentive cat) and for the Brainery for hosting. They’ve been doing fantastic virtual programming and I recommend checking out any and all of their courses!
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Nightingale: Color Field Paintings That Anticipated “Warming Stripes”
For Earth Week 2020, I contributed a story on color field paintings and Ed Hawkin’s “Warming Stripes” visualization to the data visualization publication Nightingale: The reduction of an idea to its basic form in “Warming Stripes” is reminiscent of the Color Field style of abstract painting that emerged in the 1950s and ’60s, with hubs…
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Something Rather Than Nothing Podcast
I was interviewed on Ken Volante’s Something Rather Than Nothing Podcast about topics ranging from the 1918 flu to deeper questions about what is art. Thanks to Ken for taking a deep dive into my writing and reminding me what a wild range of topics I’ve explored! Listen here.
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The Study: How Socially Concious Makers Are Giving Back to Local Communities
The 1stDibs The Study, I interviewed makers who are embedding socially consciousness in their practices, from heritage sheep wool blankets to mud bead chandeliers: Each step in crafting an object has an environmental and social impact, from the sourcing of materials to production. Aware of the responsibility this entails, many designers and makers are thoughtfully…
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Hart Island in National Geographic
I covered the role of Hart Island in caring for the unclaimed dead and its new significance amidst COVID-19, for National Geographic: The burial process hasn’t changed much since the late 1800s. An 1890 photo by Jacob Riis shows coffins being lowered into a trench, and an aerial video today shows a similar scene. It’s…
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And Now Presents Podcast
The And Now Presents podcast included me in their episode on “Pandemic Art.” It was interesting to revisit the “Spanish flu and the depiction of disease” article I wrote way back in October 2019 for Wellcome Collection, as I never would have imagined it would be so relevant to contemporary life. Listen here.
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JSTOR Daily: Surviving a Pandemic, in 1918
I explored the first-hand accounts of the nuns who volunteered as nurses during the 1918 influenza pandemic in Philadelphia for JSTOR Daily: For all the devastation of pandemics, there is a historic forgetfulness around them. They are not events that get grand public memorials, and their tolls tend to be remembered individually, rather than collectively,…
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Lapham’s Quarterly: Remember You Will Be Buried
Lapham’s Quarterly published my essay “Remember You Will Be Buried” on the changes in remembrance in cemeteries from the Victorian to Gilded Age: Tombstones have always been tools of memory. “If a man do not erect in this age his own tomb ere he dies, he shall live no longer in monument than the bell…