> 1997 <
I was invited to create an exhibition at the Mill Gallery in Carlisle, England, the northernmost city adjacent Scotland.
Historically, there has been animosity between the Scottish and the British. I decided to use Hadrian's Wall – created by the Romans in 180 B.C. to keep the Scottish out – and compare it with the Tijuana Wall in California.
In Carlisle, I created a very large computer print displaying the reasons for – and the futility of – walls. We replicated 8 feet of Hadrian's Wall with original bricks from the wall in the gallery space and interviewed local artists on the issue of xenophobia to include in a video I initiated in California. Via the Internet (this was 1997) we engaged a global audience in our discussion of xenophobia (fear of strangers) and displayed everyone's comments on the gallery walls.
This exhibition was very relevant to Carlisle at the time and local politicians in attendance were actively engaged. I also invited groups of school children to visit the exhibition and engaged them on the subject of xenophobia as well.
