We Lit the Fire and Trusted the Heat (after Angela Davis)

We Lit the Fire and Trusted the Heat (after Angela Davis) is a sonic sculpture made from jail debris scavenged from the Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago, IL. When performed, We Lit the Fire… invites viewers to witness how iron bars salvaged from a carceral demolition engage transformation through acts of touch and vibration. Invited musicians and performers transfigure what were once materials of confinement into new experiences of liberation. New collaborations and improvisations suggest new formal and physical configurations, armatures of support, care, and release, in contrast to those of submission, restraint, and restriction. 

Left: Musician and composer Dr. James Gordon Williams performs at El Museo Del Barrio in Gaspar’s exhibition, Force of Things, on June 21, 2023. Video Documentation: Video courtesy of El Museo Del Barrio; Oresti Tsonopoulos and Alex Munro

Right: Musician and composer Dr. James Gordon Williams performs at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences in Gaspar’s exhibition, Compositions, on September 6, 2023. Video Documentation courtesy IAS.