Wading the woes of Jackson Water

Wading the Woes of Jackson Water is an installation that explores themes of systems, erasures, and obstacles that communities affected by failing water infrastructures endure. The installation evokes what it is like not to have access to a basic right to clean water. The work invites engagement that informs and explores the perspective of people whose lives have been affected by the neglect of a failed and aging system. For Wading the Woes of Jackson Water, family members and a family friend share their experiences of living in a water crisis. The installation documents the impurities in the water, captures the history of the people and the land they occupy, and brings forth a hidden form of racism. Water, clay, and sound have been collected from Jackson. Impurities in the water are exposed through absorption and evaporation. Recorded oral histories of my family’s experience address the reality for the black working-class residents. PVC piping has been reshaped from a map of Jackson-affected areas to the hull of a slave ship, drawing in the correlations between the Middle Passage and Water infrastructure.  

With this project, I intend to reframe the conversation to acknowledge who is affected by water infrastructure. Wading the woes of Jackson Water considers the everyday experiences of Jackson residents along with the complexities inherent in their lives, including the Southern working-class black experience, classist structures, and racist structures that affect the everyday lives of black residents in Jackson, Mississippi.