For Vivian
Vivian was a little girl from Charlottesville, VA, who passed away at 8 years old in 1932. Five years before she passed away, Vivian’s mother, Carrie, was at the center of a famous Supreme Court case, Buck v. Bell. In their decision, the Supreme Court decided that it was acceptable for the state of Virginia to sentence Carrie to compulsory sterilization, so that she could not have more children, because it was determined that both she and her daughter, Vivian, were “feeble-minded.” The Supreme Court, in essence, said that Vivian’s existence was a burden on society, and the world would be better off without her. This decision was based on an examination of Vivian when she was seven months old. A later study suggests that the mother, Carrie, had epilepsy.
The 1930’s were the height of the Eugenics movement in America (although we still find evidence of the sterilization of women in mental institutions taking place until the early 1990’s). Eugenics is a pseudoscience whose followers believe that the human race could be perfected through selective breeding (much like a dog or a horse). When taken to its extreme, it led the Nazis to attempt to eradicate the Jews.
At the time I made this work, I had a young daughter of my own, Parker. When I looked at her, I saw innocence and boundless potential. It is unimaginable to me that someone could look at Vivian and not see what I see in my daughter. Parker and I made this installation for Vivian. It is about innocence and potential.
I wonder if Vivian liked to dance.