Llewellyn-Karski's latest series of work takes disturbing auditory and video recordings of current events and transforms them into extraordinarily beautiful photographic images. From afar, or out of context, the works can look like moonlit cityscapes or deep forests, yet when viewed up close, when the context and subject matter are finally revealed, the viewer is forced to consider something they may have turned away from in the past.
Originally focused on ongoing wars abroad and leaked soldier footage - Llewellyn-Karski began turning his attention state-side as police murders became an almost daily occurrence.
Llewellyn-Karski says, "I want to bring the unbearable into view without bias. My work aims to give expression to events that have either been censored, have been forgotten by the news, are too difficult and painful for most people to watch, or are hard to find." Llewellyn-Karski often focuses on key pieces of footage that he feels are the clearest most irrefutable pieces of evidence in determining the outcome of a case.
Llewellyn-Karski is interested in how sound and image can work together to provoke an intensely powerful emotional response from viewers that is removed of bias. The juxtaposition between the unsettling beauty of the images and the shocking moments they represent, leaves viewers questioning their responses.
"Bearing Witness aims to provoke an emotional and transformative reaction to what’s happening in the world. My piece, Eric Garner, for example, takes the audio from the phone footage of the strangling murder of Eric Garner and transforms it into an image so that you are looking at the event itself - as it is actually taking place - but in an altogether different format. To me this one moment of footage is the clearest, most horribly undeniable piece of evidence that he was murdered. I Can't Breathe."
The result is a delayed and deeply visceral shock that Llewellyn-Karski believes is every bit as powerful as the raw footage, because it leaves the details to the viewer's imagination. "When we imagine, we have an altogether different response to watching a news bulletin on the television. When we imagine, we are more likely to wonder what if that were my son?"
This is, unfortunately, an ongoing series; with pieces Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and such an sad amount more. All proceeds from this series go to the families of the victims. To learn more and to get involved in helping stop police violence please visit Campaign Zero.
