An art installation created in 1999 is making a comeback in
downtown Brooklyn this month.
Artist Bradley McCallum is using six emergency call boxes
that used to be seen on city street corners to bring attention to the issue of
police brutality.
“The idea of taking a piece of street furniture that was
designed to be able to call the police or call the fire department in case of
an emergency – and then be able to invert that so that it actually provides a
place to listen to those who have been impacted by police violence,” he told
News 12.
Each box will tell stories of victims of police brutality
through a sequence of audio testimonies by survivors, family members, lawyers
and even police officers.
McCallum originally created the public art project back in
1999 in response to the high-profile brutality cases of Abner Louima and Amadou
Diallo.
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the rise of
the Black Lives Matter movement, he dusted off the call boxes and revamped the
installation -- with a grant from the Downtown Brooklyn + Dumbo Art Fund.
The art installation will be at The Plaza at 300 Ashland
until January.