>> Thompson: INCOME INEQUALITY
AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM ARE
OFTEN IN THE NEWS THESE DAYS,
AND A NEW EXHIBIT IN NEW YORK
CITY ARGUES THAT THOSE ISSUES
ARE LINKED TO OUR HISTORY BY
WHAT THE ARTIST CALLS THE
ARCHITECTURE OF SLAVERY.
NEWSOUR WEEKEND SPECIAL
CORRESPONDENT DUARTE GERALDINO
HAS THE STORY.
>> ALEXANDRE...
>> Reporter: ARTIST KERIS SALMON
IS INTRIGUED BY THE STORY OF AN
INFANT NAMED ALEXANDRE.
HE WAS THE SON, IT WOULD APPEAR,
OF ENSLAVED PARENTS LIKELY BORN
ON THE PLANTATION WHERE SALMON
TOOK THIS PHOTO.
SHE IMAGINES HE LIVED IN THIS
FORMER SLAVE CABIN, WHICH IS
STILL STANDING TODAY.
SHE TOOK THE PHOTO ON A RECENT
VISIT TO THE DESTREHAN
PLANTATION JUST OUTSIDE OF NEW
ORLEANS.
>> IT'S OUTLINING THE JOURNEY
OF ALEXANDRE.
HE CAME WITH HIS MOTHER, AND HE
WAS NURSING.
>> Reporter: BY PAIRING A PHOTO
OF THE CABIN WITH THE TEXT FROM
A DATABASE OF SLAVE RECORDS FROM
THE 1700s, KERIS SALMON
RECREATES THIS HISTORICAL
MOMENT.
ONE DETAIL STANDS OUT TO HER.
>> THEY'RE CALLLING ALEXANDRE,
HIS RACE, IS MULATTO ROUGE.
IF THE FATHER IS BLACK AND THE
MOTHER IS BLACK, HOW IS THIS
CHILD MULATTO ROUGE?
>> Reporter: OH, I SEE WHAT
YOU'RE SAYING.
>> IT'S A LIE.
>> Reporter: THIS WAS THE CHILD
OF A POTENTIAL SLAVE OWNER AND A
SLAVE.
>> MM-HMM.
>> Reporter: AND WE HAVE A CHILD
THAT'S ZERO YEARS OLD, WHO IS
MULATTO, AS YOU SAY, A FATHER
WHO'S BLACK AND A MOTHER WHO'S
BLACK.
>> MM-HMM.
>> Reporter: THERE'S A SECRET
SOMEWHERE THERE.
>> THERE IS A SECRET THERE.
>> Reporter: AT THE HEART OF
THAT SECRET ARE THE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN WHAT IS KNOWN AND WHAT
IS SHOWN ABOUT LIFE DURING
AMERICA'S AGE OF SLAVERY.
>> AND THE WORDS ARE SIMPLY
"HERE I LIVED, HERE I DIED."
AND THESE ARE WORDS THAT WERE
SPOKEN BY SIBBY KELLY, WHO WAS A
BLACK SLAVE MIDWIFE.
>> Reporter: WE SPOKE WITH KERIS
SALMON AT THE INTERNATIONAL
PRINCE CENTER IN NEW YORK CITY,
WHERE HER WORK IS ON DISPLAY
THROUGH MID JUNE.
IN A COLLECTION OF 18 PRINTS,
SALMON JUXTAPOSES WORDS FROM
HISTORICAL RECORDS, LETTERS,
BILLS OF SALE AND OTHER ARCHIVAL
TEXTS WITH PHOTOS SHE TOOK AT
MORE THAN A DOZEN PLANTATIONS
OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS ACROSS
SEVEN SOUTHERN STATES.
SHE CALLS THE SERIES "WE HAVE
MADE THESE LANDS WHAT THEY ARE:
THE ARCHITECTURE OF SLAVERY."
>> THE TITLE COMES FROM AN
ENCOUNTER JUST AFTER
EMANCIPATION BETWEEN A GROUP OF
BLACKS AND A GROUP OF WHITES IN
NORTH CAROLINA, AND THE BLACKS
SEEMED TO BE RUNNING BACK TO
THEIR FORMER PLACES OF
ENSLAVEMENT.
>> Reporter: RUNNING BACK TO
WHERE THEY WERE ENSLAVED?
>> EXACTLY.
AND THE WHITE PEOPLE,
INCREDULOUSLY, ASKED,
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?
WHY... WHY ARE YOU RUNNING BACK
TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU WERE
IMPRISONED?"
AND THEY ANSWERED ALMOST IN
UNISON, "WE HAVE MADE THESE
LANDS WHAT THEY ARE."
AND THAT IS TRUE.
>> Reporter: SALMON'S ART AND
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPELS US TO ZOOM
IN TO THE EVERYDAYNESS OF SLAVE
LIFE.
IT MAKES US WONDER WHAT'S GONE,
AND CRITICALLY, WHAT'S STILL
AROUND US.
IT'S NOT THE CHAINS, IT'S NOT
THE WHIPS, IT'S NOT THESE...
THESE SORT OF ICONS OF SLAVERY
THAT SO MANY OF US ARE USED TO.
YOU FOCUS ON THINGS THAT ARE
FAIRLY PEDESTRIAN.
WHY?
>> WELL, LIFE THEN WAS FAIRLY
PEDESTRIAN.
I MEAN, YES, THERE WERE WHIPS,
CHAINS, MANACLES, LEG IRONS,
NECK IRONS.
BUT THIS IS THE KIND OF THING
THAT PEOPLE ENCOUNTERED EVERY
DAY, BLACK AND WHITE.
YOU KNOW, THE SWEEP OF A
BANISTER, THE GEOMETRY OF A
FENCE, A BIRD ABOUT TO TAKE OFF
IN FLIGHT IN THE PRESENCE OF
PEOPLE WHO WERE IMPRISONED
THERE.
>> Reporter: KERIS SALMON WORKS
WITH BROOKLYN-BASED PRINTMAKERS
PETER KRUTY AND SAYRE GAYDOS.
TOGETHER, THEY SET THE LOOK OF
THE SERIES.
THEY DESIGNED THE TYPEFACE SO
THAT IT RESEMBLED THE ONE USED
ON 19th CENTURY POSTERS THAT
ANNOUNCED SLAVE RUNAWAYS AND
AUCTIONS.
>> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE...
KERIS AND I TALKED ABOUT WHEN WE
FIRST STARTED WORKING ON THE
TEXT OF THESE PROJECTS, IS TO
TRY TO REALLY FOCUS ON THE TYPE,
THE... THE PHRASING, WITHOUT...
WITHOUT IT LITERALLY HITTING YOU
OVER THE HEAD WITH WHAT IT'S
ABOUT.
SO, IT'S KIND OF THIS... I THINK
WE GO BACK AND FORTH ON...
>> ALMOST LIKE A HIDDEN MESSAGE
OR SOMETHING.
>> YEAH, YEAH.
>> YEAH.
THE WORDS ARE NOT LITERAL TO THE
IMAGE.
>> YEAH, YEAH.
>> I DO... SORT OF, IT ALLOWS
THE VIEWER TO KIND OF USE ONE'S
IMAGINATION.
>> Reporter: FOR KERIS SALMON,
THAT SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE IS
SUBTLE BUT POWERFUL.
SHE SPENT 25 YEARS AS A
TELEVISION JOURNALIST FOR NBC,
ABC AND PBS, WHERE SHE ENABLED
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO SEE NEWS
EVENTS.
BUT NOW, AS A PRINT ARTIST,
SHE'S ASKING YOU TO LOOK THROUGH
THE EYES OF A SLAVE, WITH ALL
THE PAIN, COMPLEXITY AND STOLEN
MOMENTS OF JOY THAT COME WITH
THAT PARTICULAR AMERICAN VIEW.
>> DOING VERY WELL.
>> THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
>> Reporter: SHE BEGAN HER
SERIES FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN SHE
VISITED A PLANTATION WITH HER
THEN BOYFRIEND, NOW HUSBAND,
FRANK WILLIAMS.
>> WE WENT TOGETHER.
IT... IT CAME ABOUT BECAUSE A
MAN NAMED JOHN BAKER, WHO HAD...
WAS DESCENDED FROM ONE OF THE
SLAVES AT WESSYNGTON PLANTATION,
HAD SPENT ABOUT 15 YEARS WRITING
A HISTORY OF THAT PLANTATION.
WE WENT OUT TO VISIT THE CURRENT
OWNER OF THE PLANTATION HE
ACQUIRED FROM MY FAMILY IN THE
1980s.
>> Reporter: SO, HOLD ON ONE
SECOND.
THIS IS NOT JUST ANY PLANTATION.
YOU SAID, "YOUR FAMILY."
 YOUR FAMILY OWNED A PLANTATION?
>> YES.
>> Reporter: FOR HOW MANY YEARS?
>> THEY HAD OWNED IT SINCE
1790.
>> Reporter: YOU'RE WALKING AT A
PLANTATION WHERE YOUR FAMILY
OWNED NOT ONLY THE PLANTATION,
BUT HUNDREDS OF SLAVES, WITH
YOUR BLACK WIFE.
>> CORRECT.
>> Reporter: YOU, THERE MANY
YEARS LATER, WITH YOUR WHITE
HUSBAND, WHOSE FAMILY...
>> MM-HMM.
>> Reporter: ...OWNED THE
PLANTATION.
>> MM-HMM.
>> Reporter: THAT'S A LOT.
>> IT WAS LIFE-ALTERING FOR ME.
I FELT LIKE, IF THIS HAD BEEN
150, 200 YEARS AGO, THE
CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD HAVE BEEN
QUITE DIFFERENT.
AND, I THINK THAT'S TRUE.
WE WOULD HAVE BEEN PLAYING VERY
DIFFERENT ROLES.
WHEN I ARRIVED THERE, I WAS A
JOURNALIST.
AND WHEN I LEFT ON THAT VERY
SAME DAY, I BECAME AN ARTIST.
I COULDN'T LEAVE WITHOUT MAKING
SOMETHING OUT OF IT, OR... OR...
OR TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IT IN A
WAY THAT... THAT I COULD LIVE
WITH.
>> Reporter: HER WAY OF
UNDERSTANDING AMERICA'S HISTORY
AND PRESENT WAS TO PAIR A
PHOTOGRAPH OF WESSYNGTON
PLANTATION'S LARGE, STATELY
HOUSE WITH AN EXCERPT FROM
BAKER'S BOOK.
"WITH THE OTHER SLAVES, SARAH
WENT TO THE BANKS OF CALEB'S
CREEK TO COLLECT CLAY.
THEY CARRIED THE CLAY UP THE
HILL WHERE THE MANSION NOW
STANDS.
THEY BUILT THAT BIG HOUSE, BRICK
BY BRICK."
>> WHAT I WANT TO POINT OUT HERE
IS THAT THE INSTITUTION OF
SLAVERY IS THE FOUNDATION, THE
ARCHITECTURAL FOUNDATION, FOR
OUR CURRENT AMERICAN SITUATION.
>> Reporter: HOW SO?
>> IT JUST SET THE... SET THE
GROUND FOR IT.
I MEAN, SEPARATING CHILDREN FROM
THEIR... FROM THEIR PARENTS IN
THE 18th CENTURY-- I DON'T KNOW,
IT WAS PROBABLY THOUGHT OF AS
BARBARIC THEN, BUT WHO CARED?
WE'RE STILL DOING IT NOW.
>> Reporter: WHAT DO YOU THINK
IS STILL HERE TODAY, BASED ON
YOUR ART?
WHAT KIND OF SYSTEMS?
YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
SYSTEMS.
>> UNEQUAL EDUCATION, REDLINING
IN HOUSING, MASS INCARCERATION.
I COULD GO ON AND ON.
I MEAN, THE THINGS THAT WE TALK
ABOUT ON A DAILY BASIS TODAY
HAVE THEIR ROOTS IN THE AMERICAN
SLAVE ECONOMY.
