It is the lens that observes the canary. Through involving different constituencies in an art project, artists help identify and define issues that need to be brought forward. In doing so, they give voice to those who have little access to a public platform. A well-planned public artwork can actually create a constituency voice, one not enfranchised by ordinary public processes. The shaping of The Roof. . .
Artists give shape, project the public image, and link the various pieces into a meaningful whole.
In this case, the artwork becomes an organizing principle within which all these activities take place. Public art communicates and interacts with a broad and diversified audience about issues directly relevant to their lives. It is art based on engagement. Two months after we finished filming Youth, Cops and Videotape, one of the officers from the group arrived at the scene of an attempted shooting. Standing on the sidelines, a young woman hung back as police attempted their investigation.