Sensible Housing Unit (SHU)
SENSIBLE HOUSING UNIT
Started on 06.2008 / On-going
The Sensible Housing Unit (SHU) is a fabric replica of a prison cell and it functions as a portable prototype tactical object to engage audiences in critical dialogue about the human/civil rights issues in prison control units*. The society has presented this project at the University of San Francisco (2009), Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Art (2009) and the Mission Arts Performance Project (2008).
The goal of the Sensible Housing Unit is to share publicly the stories of our brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, neighbors and comrades who have been subjected to the brutal psychological isolation and physical violence in super maximum security prisons.
The project can be presented in collaboration or in coordination with the society, so if you are a family member, former prisoner, friend, activist, collective, or organization who is facilitating an artistic, academic or political awareness event dedicated to the advancement of the human and civil rights of the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated in the USA, please contact the CNS. The society will be happy to hear from you.
*Control Units (CU), Segregation Housing Units (SHU) or Administrative Segregation Units (Ad-Seg) refer to a kind punishment, management and architectural system under the USA Judicial System where youth and adult prisoners who are perceived a threat to the establishment (ex: the guards, the prison population, and to themselves) are isolated 23 hours a day in sealed single prison cells. Often these prison cells are used for the prolong isolated captivity of individuals who suffers mental illnesses, who are engaged in activism inside prisons and who have been presumably associated with gangs activities. Currently in all state and federal maximum security prisons, an incarcerated individual maybe forcefully isolated for a year up to decades.
[Photograph displays the Sensible housing Unit and its brochure. (A fabric bag measuring 18 in. length and 7 in. diameter and the inside containing a fabric prototype replica of a Prison Cell of 6ft x 8 Ft.; Full color brochure of 8.5” x 11” inches.)]
|————–> Chronology from Most Recent Versions of the SHU:
03.30.09 – SHU v.4 @ the University of San Francisco
02.20.09-03.27.09 – SHU v.3 @ Future Landscapes Designed by Women / Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Art, San Francisco – CA
Through stories, and rendering the space as a store, the (SHU) Sensible Housing Unit, is a fabric replica of a prison cell and a project that explores literal and abstract stories about prison’s “segregation housing units”, “control units” or “supermax”. Much like a product display, the society merges facts with a visual language to engage audiences with the Sensible Housing Unit and share an understanding about solitary confinement. Also, during the opening and through the length of the exhibition, the society performed a series of actions responding to the issue at hand.
02.24.09 - Here are few details from the intallation at MCCLA – photos by Mark McBeth taken during the opening reception:
02.20.2009 – The Sensible Housing Unit – 1st installation will be inaugurated at the Solo Mujeres.
>> CLICK HERE to access announcement and address of the event
01.20.09 - Axel Herrera (sound artist) and Fiona Glas (support artist) joins with Mabel to help develop the installation at MCCLA.
01.15.2009 – Proposal to create an installation containing the SHU was accepted by the Solo Mujeres Exhibition: Future Landscapes Designed by Women .
>> CLICK HERE TO SEE PDF – Proposal for MCCLA from TCNS – 01.2009
12.2008 – Designed the Brochure for the SHU.
08.04.2008 – The society organizes the public event “Subliminal Sketches of a SHU” as part of the Mission Arts and Performance Project, San Francisco. Production team: Mabel Negrete, Alli Spector, Victoria Reslter, and Marguerite Davenport.
07.2008 – I tried the SHU at the Golden Gate Park:
05.2008-07.2008 – During these months I built the prototype of the Sensible Housing Unit.