Redaction

by Reginald Dwayne Betts, Titus Kaphar

MacArthur fellows Reginald Dwayne Betts and Titus Kaphar present a stunning literary and artistic collaboration that confronts the abuses of the criminal justice system.

Throughout their award-winning careers, visual artist and filmmaker Titus Kaphar and poet, memoirist, and attorney Reginald Dwayne Betts have shed light on the violences of incarceration and the underexplored contradictions of American history. In Redaction, they unite their different mediums to expose the ways the legal system exploits and erases the poor and incarcerated from public consciousness.

First exhibited at MoMA PS1, the fifty “Redaction” prints layer Kaphar’s etched portraits of incarcerated individuals with Betts’s poetry, which uses the legal strategy of redaction to craft verse out of legal documents. Three prints are broken apart into their distinct layers, illuminating how the pair manipulated traditional engraving, printing, poetic, and redaction processes to reveal what is often concealed. This beautifully designed volume also includes additional artwork, poetry, and an introduction by MoMA associate director Sarah Suzuki. The result is an astonishing, powerful exploration of history, incarceration, and race in America.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Art, Politics

160 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2023

About the author

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet, essayist, and national spokesperson for the Campaign for Youth Justice. He writes and lectures about the impact of mass incarceration on American society. He is the author of three collections of poetry, Felon, Bastards of the Reagan Era, and Shahid Reads His Own Palm, as well as a memoir, A Question of Freedom. A graduate of Yale Law School, he lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with his wife and their two sons.

Reviews

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful melding of poetry and varied art--the original installations must have been fantastic. Poems connecting the legacy of slavery with the personal histories of today. "Found" poems made by redacting words from court documents from people suing to end the bail system and the criminalization/incarceration of the poor.

An amazing book if you can get your hands on it.

[Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit hard to describe, so I'll use some of the information from the book itself. The images here "are meant to convey the universality of the injustices perpetrated by our criminal justice system." On another page is written, "A journey through words and images meant to trouble:"

This book presents a specific problem and that is "the practice of state and federal court systems by which those arrested, but unable to afford bail, remain incarcerated even though they have been neither tried or convicted."

This is a large format book and it's dark. The redacted sections are printed in small white print on a black background making them difficult to read. I had to use the flashlight on my phone to illuminate those pages so I could read them. Interspersed between these pages are creative art work as well as some beautiful poetry. Sometimes the three parts, the redacted sections, the poetry, and the art do not seem particularly connected. This is one of those books that took some effort for me to explore, and try to understand, but I will remember it for a while, and I appreciate the effort of those who made it.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so very glad I read this book. It is brilliant both in terms of form and content. It uses redaction not to obscure but to illumine what a court document (particularly aimed at people who are treated as if they don’t have power) is really saying. This book is both art and poetry in dynamic relationship to each other throughout. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.

[Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cohesion of the poetry with the art creates an immersive experience, which I expect attending the exhibition added to the intensity of this project, but all I know is I experienced something unique with this book.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

very intriguing

[Morgan Fulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-- a unique and successful blend of art forms that manages to address such an important topic in a beautiful way

[Luke Gorham · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. A masterclass in symbiotic art.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly original work that intersects the criminal justice system with art. The 'redacted' in this case are African Americans who have faced the CJS; there are certain concepts that keep coming up (8th and 14th Amendment, for example) - the 'redactive' process highlights how these concepts are not universally applied. The poetry of Reginald Dwayne Betts corrosively interacts with the images of Titus Kaphar: until the ethical 'flesh' reveals the 'bones' of out system - the difference between spirit and letter of the law - and how few understand the difference.