First: inflatables uplift a grim protest situation into a playful event. There is something magic about what inflatables induce in people. Their enormous size combined with the weightlessness and softness makes them irresistibly attractive and dreamlike. People have a natural tendency to touch the inflatable sculpture and to join the game of throwing inflatables in the air—changing a march into a poetic, joyful and participatory event.
Documentarian Clayton Patterson captured video of police brutality during the Tompkins Square Park riots in the summer of 1988. When District Attorney Robert Morgenthau ordered Patterson to hand over his camera and tapes as evidence, Patterson refused, citing distrust of the criminal justice system. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but after a 10-day hunger strike, his lawyers negotiated a deal to free him.
