Gregory Whitehead
Earlid | fall 2016

By using the transcript of the interrogation as the core ‘libretto’ and not trying to imagine the lived experience of the victim through some sort of performative re-enactment, I wanted to create enough distance, such that the contemplative space could deepen, and reduce the space of shock.

Radio artist Gregory Whitehead talks about his collaboration with two very different realms of performance such that his radio art, On the Shore Dimly Seen, expands and contracts inside the ear.

Written texts motivate Whitehead’s work—from a Guantanamo interrogation log to the morphing of the Star-Spangled Banner to the interview script of Dick Cheney. He is equally driven by writings about torture and ethics, media and ritual. We talked about bearing witness and how art manages to reveal more than a reality tour through the heinous.