Hank Willis Thomas Winter in America (review)

H A N K W I LLI S T H O M A S W I N T E R I N A M E R I C A Jack Shai nm an Gallery 513 West 20th Street, New York March 1 6 - Apr il 15, 2006 I've onl y seen t hree of t hem, t hose bumper st ickers t hat read "Som eone I Love Was Murdered. " Brief , unequi vocal , and t o t he point , t hey leave you a lit t le st unned, speechl ess, and somehow impl icat ed. I wonder what t hey must do t o someone like t he w oman I once heard on a radio cal l -in pr ogr am, compl ai ni ng about havi ng t o see r oadside memorials t o accident v i c t i m s— t hose simpl e, st ark crucif ixes, more of t en embel l ished wit h rapidly f adi ng and quickly f il t hy plast ic f l owers. She di dn't want t o be reminded of someone else's vi ol ent deat h as she passed by. Wal -Mar t sel l s t he pl ast i c f l ow er s prepackaged now, no doubt i mpor t i ng t hese cheap memorial s t o our r andomly brut al cult ure. Si mi l ar l y st raight f orward and di sar mi ng, Wint er in America, Hank Wil l is Thomas and Kambui Ot uj imi's st opmot i on ani mat i on video and phot ogr aphs, depict s t he sensel ess 2000 robbery and murder of Thomas's cousi n Songha Thomas Wil l is. Shot wi t h a di git al st il l camera, i t is bot h ar t i st s' f irst at t empt at st op-mot i on ani mat i on. "I t was i m por t ant t o do b o t h , " says Thomas of t he video and st i l l phot ogr aphs. "Vi deo car r i es t he vi ew er t hr ough and st i l l i mages allow t he viewer t o ponder. " Thomas l ikens hi s col l abor at i on w i t h l ongt i m e f r i end Ol uj imi, w ho codirect ed, t o a marriage. "I t i s a l ot like I i magi ne marriage t o be, " he says. "You are at each ot her 's t hr oat s a lot because you bot h want it t o work so badly. Kambui and I have a lot of respect f or one anot her so we l ear ned how t o expr ess our sel ves unabashedl y w i t hout di smi ssi ng t he ot her per son's i deas. " Thomas's is a loss i nconcei vabl e for most of us, one t hat he has been gr appl ing wi t h t hr ough his art . In Priceless ( 2004) , a phot ogr aph f rom Wil l is's f uneral i s overl aid wi t h t ext derived f rom t he Mast erCard adver t i si ng campai gn of t he same name. The t hi ng you don't t hi nk about , one you hope you never have t o t hi nk about , i s t hat , if t here's a t rial, chances are t here will be a bl ow-by-bl ow, somet i mes verbat im t ranscript of t he f i nal moment s of your loved one's life, a st range art if act t o go al ongsi de t he phot o al bums and hi gh school t r ophi es. Wil l is's murder t rial was a wel l -publ icized capit...